


Shattered

by Agehron



Series: Shattered Universe [1]
Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Brainwashing, Character Death, F/M, Murder, Psychological Torture, Rape/Non-con Elements, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-21
Updated: 2015-06-03
Packaged: 2018-03-14 00:57:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 12
Words: 26,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3402554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Agehron/pseuds/Agehron
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One day the turtles left April to keep her safe from the Foot Clan. That same night she disappeared without a trace. Five years later they still have hope that she will be found.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lost and Found

It had been five years since he last saw her. Since anyone last saw her, to be truthful. She had disappeared that night they left, gone without a trace. News Channel 6 had put her face out, hoping to find their up-and-coming investigative reporter, but soon moved on to other news.  With no family left to speak of she was quickly forgotten by many, but he still remembered her. They all did. The woman who they owed their very existence too, who had excepted them as family when they discovered each over, had loved and cherished everyone in their own way. She had given them so much, and then they left her to be captured.

Raph felt like he had deserted her. He swore he heard her heart break when he told her he was leaving over the phone. In his dreams, he heard those same shattered cries she emitted when the memories of the fire got too much for her, echoing through the empty lair. Images of her collapsing to her knees, sobbing and begging them not to leave her alone again, she was so tired of being alone, made him nauseous.  He could see the shadowy figure walk up behind and, in her grief, her not notice them until it was too late. She fought against it until finally they hit her across the temple and she collapsed. The dreams would leave him in a cold sweat and tears, guilt consuming him, knowing that if he had been there for her, she would still be there.

 Raphael pulled himself out of bed after another long night of dreams revolving around April. Her small body curled against his own, her moaning his name as he moved with her, then they turned to nightmares. Hearing her scream in pain as someone hit her, cut her soft, pale skin with knife, and so much worse. Shaking his head, he went through his morning routine and moved into the training room. Leonardo was already warming up in the room, but he gave his brother only a courtesy nod as he moved towards him. He fully blamed Leo for April’s disappearance, it being his decision that things were too dangerous for her. He had decided for them all what was for the best without even consulting the rest of them.

It didn’t help that soon after the move Master Splinter had gotten ill and, despite everything that Donatello tried to do, was unable to recover. The three younger turtles knew that if they still had that connection with April, he would have had a better chance. She was always helping them get ahold of things that they couldn’t normally get, like medication. The confidence they had in their leader diminished slowly over the last few years, Leo only holding the title of Leader because Raph didn’t have the heart to take his place.

Not that he really wanted to do anything these days. Get up, train, eat, train more, go on patrols, and then do his own patrols was what his life had come to. Pounding low-life thugs had become his outlet for his mourning, it helped that he was also doing some good in the city. More than once he had pulled a “Scared Straight’ tactic on some stupid teenager who thought that he needed ‘Street Cred’ to get by in this world. Even that was getting old. He missed the long talks he would have with her about whatever came to their minds, the Netflix marathons (he still refused to acknowledge she got him into Doctor Who) , and just curling up together on the couch while they watched the rain fall outside her window. 

“You going out tonight?” Raph turned to look at the turtle in blue.

“Yah” he grunted in reply, moving to the punching bag to begin his workout.

“When are you coming back?” Leonardo moved into Raphael’s sightline, arms crossed as he glared at him.

“Whenever I damn well please.” Raph growled, focusing on the bag in front of him, trying to keep the images of him hitting his brother out of his mind.

“That’s not the answer I wanted Raph, I want to know when you’re coming back. You can’t keep roaming the streets until whenever you feel like coming home.  You’re going to put us all in danger.” The red turtle paused his workout to look at Leo.

“Because you’re so damn good at keeping people safe, huh Leo?” The conversation was fast turning into a fight, but Raph didn’t really care anymore. He was sick of his older brother acting so high and mighty, Mr. Perfect who never did anything wrong and it if what he did hurt any one of the brothers, it was for the good of them collectively. “Just like us leavin’ kept April safe?”

 “I didn’t mean for that to happen.” Leo had the decency to at least look like he regretted leaving her. “She was our _Hogosha_ , our guardian. If I had known it would have happened I would have done it differently.”

“So you woulda still have left her.” Raphael snarled, tensing his body up. “Screw what she meant to the rest of us, only what YOU thought mattered. Forget that she was always willin’ to try whatever crazy new thing Mikey cooked in the kitchen even if she ended up sick ‘cause of it, forget she was always interested in the stuff Donnie was doin’, and hookin’ him up with old bits of her Father’s stuff, forget that Master Splinter saw himself as a surrogate father, because she sure as HELL didn’t have anyone who gave a flyin’ fuck about her after her father died- tryin’ to keep us from fallin’ into Shredder’s hands,” he stopped his tirade as his heart clenched painfully in his chest. He looked Leo straight in the eyes as he tried to get control of his breathing, and his next words were softer. “Forget what she meant to me. Everything that she did for me. She loved me even for all my issues, my flaws. She loved me, without even wantin’ a damn thing in return.”

He turned back to the bag, shutting his eyes, and taking deep breaths. She wouldn’t want him losing his temper like that. He could see her face, quiet and firm, telling him that he needed to back off. It was funny that even with her gone, he still hated disappointing her. While she accepted him for the brutish monster that he was, he still wanted to be better, to prove, to himself at least, that he deserved her warmth and love. He resumed his workout, beating at the battered bag with a steady efficiency, shutting out his brother’s hurt look. He could care less about hurting him right now. All Raph wanted to do was focus on getting through another day.

Later that night it was time for their daily patrol. Raphael came up the door right as Michelangelo had just hooked the last nunchaku to his belt. The youngest of the turtles looked at his older brother.

“You okay Raph?” he asked, worry in his blue eyes. After Raph, Mikey was the most affected by April’s disappearance. As much as he flirted with her in the beginning, he loved her as a sister and he mourned her as family when she was gone. He had become serious about protecting those who couldn’t help themselves, whether it was kids, the elderly, or even animals. One particular bad night involved young girls being sold into the sex slave industry, and that was when the older turtles found out that even the baby brother had a dark side. It took all three of them to get Michelangelo out of there before all the men there died horrible, painful deaths.

“I’m good Mikey, let’s just get on with this- heard there’s gonna be a big drug deal down at the docks, and I wanna break it up before any of it hits the streets.” The orange turtle nodded and followed his older brother out of the lair.

After the group patrol, Raph stood on the roof as a cold, bitter January wind blew around him. He closed his eyes and focused on the city around him. It seemed to be a quiet night, the normal sounds of the city filling the air. Sirens blared in the distance, cars passed by, and taxis honking their horns. Few pedestrians were out, it being in the middle of a bad cold snap. Not that Raph could blame them. If it wasn’t for his need to go out and do something, the void that she left, he’d wouldn’t be out ether. A bad snow storm was being predicted in the next few days, not something any of the turtles looked forward to.

He was so lost in his thoughts he just barely dodged something that flew right past him. He turned, drawing his Sais and moving into a fighting stance.  A woman wearing the garb and mask of a Foot Solider stood in front of him, her body tense and ready to act on his every move. A Kusarigama gleamed between her hands, a heavy-looking chain attaching the sharp blade to an even heavier looking ball at the end.

“Raphael Hamato,” the woman moved into her own fighting stance, “I finally found you.”

The large turtle jerked back, his eyes going wide in shock- that voice was familiar, but it couldn’t be…, he train of thoughts was abruptly ended when she moved towards him, poised to attack. He just barely was able to block the blade of her weapon, and moved to strike her. She backed away out of his reach and swung her chain, striking him in the side with the ball.  The pain made him to stumble backwards, off balance. He growled under his breath. The strange Kunoichi was stronger than she looked. To his surprise, however, she did not take advantage of his lost momentum and continue to strike.

“Come on, you bitch, “he snarled, his entire body tense, ready for his next move. “Was that all you got?”

He retook his footing onto the roof, ready for her next attack. She charged at him, and he moved to meet her in the middle. Blocking her next attack of the ball with his sais, he pulled on the chain in an attempt to disarm her. The other Ninja proceeded to suddenly whip behind him, tangling him in the chain. He felt he pull the chain down and then he felt a sharp pain coming from his hamstring. The pain did not slow him down though, as he whirled around to try to stab her but all he saw was her jumping over his hand and hitting him in the face with spinning kick. The blade of her weapon dripped with his blood, and he grit his teeth at the fact that she had been able to get a hit on him. This was no normal Foot Soldier that was for sure. She collected up the chain of her weapon and rushed forward, putting Raph on the defensive by having him attempt to parry her overhand slice . . . which turned into a feint as she took advantage of Raph's parrying stance to slide underneath him. As she slid past, Raph felt a unique pain- that of the butt of her sickle hitting him between the legs and in the area where even the turtles were sensitive. As he was doubling over in pain, the kunoichi kicked him and caused him to hit ledge head first. The Foot Soldier walked slowly forward, her body moving like a cat stalking her prey. Using the butt of the scythe to tilt his head up to face her, she laughed darkly, but again, it was strangely familiar.

               

“So this is the one that Karai warned me about.” She purred, a sound that caused Raph’s blood to pulse through his body. Why was this woman- the enemy- making him feel like she did? Shifting her weapon to one hand, she lifted the other to pull off her mask. What Raphael saw next left him stunned and speechless. The Kunoichi smirked at the look on his face. “What’s wrong _Raphael_?” her voice mocked “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” He swallowed hard to fight back the tears that threatened to form in eyes as he looked back at an all-to familiar face, and her name came out in a choked whisper.

“April.”


	2. Rooftop Rendevous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stunned by April's sudden reappearance, Raphael tries to reason with her as memories haunt him.

Raphael just stared at the woman that stood before him, one he thought he had lost years ago. She looked familiar, but so different than she had when she disappeared. Her dark auburn hair was cut short, a close buzz cut on the sides of her head, but the top was an inch or two long, and dyed a vibrant red color. A thin scar on the left side of her face went from her temple down to her chin, and she had another one on her right cheek. The worse was her eyes. Once filled with warmth and love, they were now icy cold.  She radiated hate and disgust for him. Raph shook as a memory of her came to him.

_“Hey Raph?” The turtle turned to face the young reporter that had so abruptly fallen into their lives. She was playing with her hands, and biting her lower lip. Raphael frowned deeply. Why would she be nervous around him like this? She normally sought him out to hang out and always seemed at ease around him. Something that had given him a small hope that maybe- just maybe- they could be more than friends._

_“What’s up?” he asked, pausing in his workout. She wrapped her arms around her shoulders, shut her eyes, and took a deep breath._

_“I need to talk to you about something.” She looked up at him, but quickly looked back down. There was nervousness and some fear in her eyes. He walked up to her and tipped her head up so he could see her eyes._

_“April? You okay?” he asked, his voice firm and slightly commanding. He remembered how she had been complaining about her partner, the “human nerd” was trying to get her into a date again. “If it’s that Vern again, I swear I’ll-“ He was cut off by April standing on her toes and kissing him on the lips. He froze in place as her lips continued to explore his in a gentle, non-pressing manner. He could believe that it was happening. He had dreamed of something like this, the images often moving into something that was far from appropriate for their relationship. Just as he was about to return the kiss she pulled away suddenly._

_“Sorry,” she said, turning red, “I shouldn’t have done that.” April went to take a step back from him, but he stopped her._

_“Why not?” he whispered, and leaned in towards her, kissing her back. It was awkward and clumsy at first, but he soon got the feel of it and deepened it, pulling her close to his plastron._

“April, babe what’s wrong?” he asked, his voice shaking. “What are you doin’? Why are you doin’ this?” He searched his eyes desperately for something, _anything_ that said that the woman that he loved so dearly was still there. He got nothing in return.  She moved behind him, pressing the blade of the kusarigama against his neck.

“Just dishing out some well-deserved revenge.” She replied coolly. Raph tried to turn to see her, but was stopped when the scythe dug deeper into his skin, causing him to bleed.

“Revenge? Whacha mean about that? I didn’t do anythin’ to you!”  She leaned in close, he could feel her soft breath on his cheek.

“You and your brothers destroyed my life. You are the reason my father is dead and Sachs, the man who took me in after his death, is in jail. You took away everything I loved, and now I have come to pay you back for that.” She snarled at him. Raph felt her weapon dig deeper into his skin. He hissed in pain as his mind was buzzed with what she said. Killed her Father? Why did she think they killed her Father? Out of the corner of his eye he could see a cold gleam of triumph at his pain. “I should kill you right now. “ He felt a few tears fall down his face as true panic hit him. He had to get to her, truly losing her, knowing that he’d never hold her again, hear her gentle laugh, hold him close to her  on his bad days, terrified him more than anything ever could.

“April, babe come on, this isn’t you, we’re your friends, your family. You saved us from the fire that your father died in, remember? You have that burn scar on your shoulder from it.” He felt her freeze behind him, and another memory came to him.

_“Oh man, why’d they go and do that?” Mikey complained loudly and the villain in the movie they were watching cut the heroine’s cheek. “Now’s it gonna scar.” April frowned at the youngest turtle from her spot next to Raph on the couch. He swore the air around him turned to ice as his girlfriend glared at his youngest brother._

_“Is there an issue with her having a scar?” She asked, her voice icy cold. The rest of the family turned to her, stunned at the tone of her voice, but their dim-witted brother paid no heed to her tone._

_“Why wouldn’t there be? Scars on guys look cool, because it shows they’re tough and awesome. Scars on girls just look wrong.” The orange turtle explained. “It makes it look like the hero failed to save her in time, and they look kind of ugly.” The look on April face turned dark and she abruptly stood up. Leo watched her, concerned. “Where are you going Angelcakes? The movie isn’t even half over?” Michelangelo asked as she made her way to the door. She turned to him, and odd look on her face._

_“You know, back when you guys where at the lab you were always moving.” She said, a sad half smile came to her face as she looked at him. “If I ever took you out of your tank and put you on the counter, you took off in a heartbeat. I had to save you from the edge more time then I can count.” She crossed her arms and turned her head away, blinking away the tears in her eyes. The turtles remained silent, she never talked about their time at the lab, whether it was because she thought it was uncomfortable for them, or the painful memories that came with those times, they didn’t know. “The night of the fire was no different. I had gotten you guys and was making my way out when you squirmed out of my arms. I stopped to pick you up, and a small piece of the ceiling fell onto my shoulder. I shook it off, but I didn’t notice the damage until after I had let you guys go and an EMT came to check on me.”_

_She slipped her fingers under the long-sleeved shirt she was always wearing when she didn’t have a jacket on and pulled it over her head, a black halter top under it. Turning around, she pulled her hair over her right shoulder and pulled the strap of her left one down so they could see it better. All they could do was stare in shock. From the top of it, down to just above her shoulder blade a dark burn scar marred her soft skin. Raph watched her swallow hard, and continue to speak. “I’m sorry if you feel that I’m ugly because of it.” She put her shirt back on and grabbed her jacket, continuing to head out the door._

_“Way to go, dumbass.” Raph growled at his brother, and stood up to take April home. Jogging to catch up with her, he heard Donatello, of all of them, chewing out is brother for his careless remarks. He caught up with her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. She tried-and failed- to shake him off and he pulled her into a hug. “It’s okay babe,” he murmured into her hair as he felt her begin to shake as silent sobs wracked her body. “He didn’t mean it, he’ll be over tommora, begging for your forgiveness an’ make you dinner, and whatever else he feels like he needs to do ta get back in your good graces.” She sniffed softly and looked up at him._

_“You think so?” she asked, her large blue eyes rimmed in red. He smiled and leaned down to kiss the top of her head.”_

_“Yah, I do.” He whispered softly and then escorted her back to her apartment._

“How do you know about my scar?” she asked, voice waving slightly. Her hold on him relaxed slightly, but then tightened again. “Master Shredder warned me about this. That you’d try and get into my head. Feeding me lies and trying to sway my loyalties to him. I will not fall for that.” Her grip tightened on her weapon. “Maybe I should leave your body for your brothers to find. As a warning of what is going to happen to them, one by one.” Some part of Raph told him to push her off, that he should be able to, but another part warned him he could hurt her if he was too rough, and he could never do that. Again, she leaned in close to him, and whispered softly into his ear. “Now it’s time to say goodbye.” She brought the blade of the kusarigama back and was about to pull it across his throat when something came flying past him and hit her in the shoulder. She swore and jumped away from him, her body in a defensive stance.

“Raph, you okay?” a voice called from across the rooftop.  He looked up to see Mikey standing on the ledge, shuriken in his hand.  Beside him, April pulled out the one that hit her in the shoulder and tossed it onto the ground, then glared at the youngest brother.

“I’ll get you for that!” she growled, starting to swing the ball end of her weapon in small, controlled circles. Michelangelo frowned at the sound of her voice and moved in closer, watching her face.

“April?” he asked softly. “What are you doing?’ He slipped the small weapon back into a pouch on his belt. “We’ve been looking for you everywhere.” His face turned to one of puzzlement. “Why are you trying to kill Raph?” A small hit of panic came to his voice, as he looked from her to Raph. A noise came from the next rooftop over. Looking over, the brothers saw a small group of three or four foot soldiers watching them. A dark smile came to April’s face.

“Well boys, this has been fun, but it’s time for me to go.” She pulled a small smoke bomb from a pouch on her belt. She looked straight at Raph. “Next time we see each other you must bring the other two, I’d be delighted to meet them.” With that, she tossed the bomb onto the ground, leaving the two turtles coughing in her wake, and when the smoke cleared, both she and the Foot Clan were gone.

Raph got himself to his feet and pressed his hand to his neck. Thankfully the cut was still fairly shallow, and the wound didn’t seem like it was bleeding much. He looked at his younger brother. There was panic and shock in his blue eyes. The youngest turtle moved to help Raph back to the lair. They went silently for a bit when Mikey stopped suddenly stopped and looked up at his brother.

“Raph, what wrong with April? Why did she act like she didn’t know us? Why did she threaten you?” Raph sighed and closed his eyes, images of her icy eyes haunting him.  He sighed softly and looked down at his baby brother.

“I don’t know, Mikey,” he said, then looked straight ahead, a look of determination crossing his face. “But we’re gonna find out.”


	3. Back Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back at the lair, Raphael confronts Leo about leaving April, and informs the rest of the brothers that their Hogosha is now a member of the Foot Clan.

This chapter might lose me some readers, as Leo’s memory goes into a topic that can turn into an ugly argument real quick, what the US is doing in Afghanistan. These are my views on the subject and if you don’t like them, that’s fine with me. Any flame comments will be deleted if there is no constructive criticism behind them.  Carter is named after a real person in one of my old units, the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade. He was a Warrant Officer who was killed, along with the specialist that was training with him, when the Apache that he was piloting had a mechanical malfunction and crashed in Afghanistan.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Donatello was sitting at his computer, try to finish up the last bit of code for the lair’s new security system when he heard his brothers come in.  Deciding he needed a break anyway, he walked out into the living room where he saw Mikey half-dragging a bloodied Raph. Rushing up to them, he helped get the bigger turtle into the little room that they had designated as the infirmary.

“What happened?” the purple turtle asked as they got the injured brother up on the bed. He quickly took stock of the injuries. A long, shallow laceration on his neck, a bloody lump on the head, and a more serious looking laceration down his left calf. Looking back up at the two, he saw mild shock and confusion on their faces. Frowning, he turned to start gathering the supplies he needed to patch Raph up. Then he heard Raph speak in a small voice he had never heard before.

“It was April” Donatello almost dropped the bottle of antiseptic he was holding. He whipped around and noticed for the first time that his red-clad brother was shaking.  The larger turtle open and closed his mouth a few times, like he didn’t know what exactly to say. Then, swallowing hard, he continued. “She knew us, but her memories are all messed up. She thinks we killed her father, and the got Sachs arrested. She’s with the foot and calls Shedder Master, and when I look at her I see _nothing_ and I tried to get to her but she just...” Panic began to come into his voice and Don put a hand on now trembling shoulder of his larger brother. Mikey just stood next to him, his hand on Raph’s other shoulder, looking just as lost as Raph did.

“Raph, easy,” he said in a calm voice. ”Take a deep breath and tell me what happened.” Raph opened his mouth to speak, then just closed his eyes and lowered his head. Then Don heard a small sob, a small heart-wrenching noise. “Raph? Raph?” His brother just let out another one of those horrible sounds and shook his head, unable to speak. Donatello looked to Michelangelo, who looked just as shocked and his brother’s breakdown as he was. “Go get Leo.” The youngest turtle turned and left the room quickly to get their leader. Don watched Raph sob, heart brokenly, for a few moments and then tried to get his attention. “Raph? I need to take care of these wounds, okay?” The red bandana nodded as he choked on a sob and Don reached up to pull it off. The head wound wasn’t too bad, but with Raph’s uncharacteristic outburst, Donnie made a note to keep an eye on him to make sure he didn’t have a concussion. The cut on his neck was thin and shallow, so all it needed was some cotton padding and a bandage. It was the gash on his leg that worried Donatello the most. The bleeding was stopped, but there could be severe damage to the muscle and tendon if it was deep enough. He looked up at his brother who had fallen silent, and sighed softly. The broken look on his face out of place, and it made Donnie kind of scared. Exactly what had happened for his brother to get like this? Getting up to receive the things he would need to sew up the gash on Raph’s leg, he placed a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll get this figured out, okay? After I get done with you, I’ll see if I can find any leads to figure out what happened, okay?” Raphael looked like he was about to reply when Leonardo walked in.

“Raphael, what happened, Michelangelo was saying you got attacked by _April_ while you were patrolling on your own? How many times do I have to tell you about that? How do you know it was her?” The oldest turtle would have continued if it wasn’t for Raph’s eyes filling with anger at the sight of his older brother. He launched himself at his brother, shoving him against the wall.

“You sonofabitch! This is your fuckin' fault!” He snarled, getting close into Leo’s face. “If you hadn’t made that gawdamn decision for all of us, she woulda' never been captured by the Foot, and this woulda' never happened!” The hot-headed turtle drew back his fist the hit Leo, but was stopped by Mikey.

“Easy, Raph I know you’re upset, I am too, but you can’t focus on who fault it is right now.” The orange turtle gave Leo an uncharacteristically pointed, cold glare “Even if we all agree whose fault it was.”  Icy blue eyes bore into his brother’s darker blue ones. Raph looked from his youngest brother to his oldest, and roughly pulled away from them both.

“Come on Raph, I need to fix that leg before you damage it anymore” Donatello said, finishing with the supplies he needed to stitch it up. Raph turned back to the table and laid down on it so he could stitch the gash up.

Leo sat down in a chair and rubbed his temples, while Mikey just stood in the same place he was at, his blue eyes quiet and serious. Donatello continued to work quietly on Raph’s leg and the room was in a heavy silence as he finished up. Wrapping up his brother’s leg, he heard Leo take a deep breath and looked over to his older brother.

“So what’s this about April? Mikey was saying she attacked you guys? Are you sure it was her?” Leo looked between Michelangelo and Raphael as the latter pushed himself into a sitting position on the examination table. Gold eyes stared at the ground as he took a shaky breath. Swallowing hard, he nodded.

“Yah, I’m sure it was her.” Raph told the story of what had happened, up until he and Michelangelo had gotten to the lair. He blinked back tears as he recalled the anger and hate in her voice, how her eyes conveyed none of the warmth and love that they had held for him. How the blade of her weapon felt against is neck as she was ready to cut his throat. Leo remained silent through the story, his face deep in concentration.  When Raph had finished, Leo stood up and started to pace around the small room.

While his younger brothers watched him pace around, the eldest was lost in thought. Guilt weighed heavily on him as he thought over the situation they were in. Their beloved April, their savior, had been captured by the very people he had wanted to keep her from.  He could only imagine what they had done to her to get to that state. To not even remember the one that had never given up hope that she would be found, who loved her more than his own life, and who she had loved right back with a passion.

He would never admit it to Raph, but he was horribly jealous at what the younger turtle had. The way April looked at him, and always was around him in the beginning. The way they would curl up together on movie night. How Raph was the one she when to when she had a bad day, or nightmares, or just someone to talk to.

Not that April didn’t love them all in her own way. Helping Donnie find things he needed for his projects, or whatever medical supplies they needed or cooking in the kitchen with Mikey, figuring out all kinds of odd recipes the younger turtle wanted to try out. For Leo, April had become his sounding board for whatever was on his mind. She sat and talked with him, listening to what he had to say. One particular time came to his mind.

_Leo watched the news as images of humans fighting each other in a country he had only heard about flashed across the screen. He looked over at the woman sitting beside him, who had been quiet during the report._

_“Why do humans do this to each other?” he asked “I mean, I know some people are just bad people, but to fight like this? Isn’t there a better way to do things?” he frowned as grainy images of an airstrike that hit its target was shown. “I understand that other members of this groups have done some terrible things, but why don’t we try to talk with them? Maybe work something out that would work for everyone?” She was quiet for a moment, contemplating his question. She sighed and sat herself more comfortably on the couch._

_“They won’t listen to us. If they do, they don’t want to compromise. They want us to give them everything they want, and even then, they will not be satisfied until everyone is ether just like them, or dead. It’s what they believe their Quran, their Holy Book, tells them to do.” April started to explain, her brow furrowed in concentration as she thought of the right way to put her thoughts into words._

_“Does it?” the turtle watched her run her fingers through her hair, pondering his question._

_“I can’t tell you.” She stated plainly. “I can’t read Arabic, and I don’t know what kind of translation to trust. It might, it might not. It goes down into a big debate that I’m not really qualified to explain, because I didn’t grow up in a religious family. But they believe that it tells them to destroy all those who do not follow their religion. That’s why they do it. I do know that not all of those people are bad, though.”_

_“How’s that?” Leo asked, his eyes on his friend. A hurt look came to her face._

_“When I was in high school I had this guy I was really close friends with, his name was Carter. If it hadn’t been for him going into the Army, we probably would have ended up dating. But, he did join up as soon as he could, and became a medic. Not long after he got out of school, he was shipped out to Afghanistan. I’d get letters and phone calls from him about what he was doing. He worked at the hospital on Baghram, an airbase out there, and he worked a lot with the locals who came there for the care that they needed. He got a bunch of people who had been injured when they stepped on a mine, or an IED that was meant for our troops. Once he had group come in because a Suicide Bomber had hit a market when it was busy. There were mostly women and children there.”_

_“So they would hurt their own people?” He asked, shocked. April nodded._

_“They thought that if they did it, they were guaranteed a place in heaven. They even sent their kids in with the vests on. But Carter loved working with the people, and some were really happy we had taken out the Taliban, the previous government. We didn’t have everyone on our side, of course, but it wasn’t like they all didn’t want us there.” She smiled softly at a memory long gone. “Carter loved working with the kids the most. He’d rotate out of the hospital to do patrols, and they would take stuff out for the kids. Just little things like toys and school supplies. His favorite memory was of a little girl who told him she was so happy to go to school like all her brothers got to. She wanted to be a midwife when she grew up.” She paused, swallowing hard, eyes filling with tears._

_“So what happened to Carter?” caution in Leo’s voice. A tear fell down her face._

_“He didn’t make it back. He died saving that same little girl.” She wiped away more tears, and all Leo could do was lean forward and bring her close to his chest, giving her some comfort._

Pulling himself out of thoughts, Leonardo turned to his brothers, a look of determination on his face. They all looked back at him, Mikey with worry on his face, Donnie with a dark thoughtfulness, and Raph with a look that made Leo’s heart hurt to see on his face.

“Get to bed- that includes you Donatello. Tomorrow Michelangelo, Raphael, and I will go out and see if we can find answers on what happened to April. Donatello, you’ll stay back and see if you can find anything online.” he said, his voice leaving no room for argument. April’s smiling face flashed before his eyes. “We’re going to save her.”

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next Chapter we focus on April


	4. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> April, or Erin as she is known as now, is sent to retrieve a familiar person from a high-security prison.

Erin Sachs slipped a pair of sunglasses as she stepped out of her car into the bright Colorado sun that gleamed off the snow. She disliked the form-fitting business attire, but it was essential to her disguise. The press ID she wore read _Jennifer Johanson_ , both that and the car she drove a gift from a young woman who had the misfortune of responding to a Craigslist ad about proof of alien life forms. Walking up to the doors of the supermaxim prison, she gave a brief nod to the guards at the doors. It had been easy enough to replace a number of the guards with those who were loyal to the foot clan, and others had been bought out. Those who weren’t- well, they would be too distracted by the security system shutdown and ensuring prison riot to notice what was going on.

The Prison Warden was waiting for her just inside the entrance. He gave her a professional smile, but his green eyes flashed over her figure in appreciation and he ran his fingers through his balding blonde hair.

“Mrs. Johanson, Welcome to our facility.” He said, holding out his hand. He gave her a light shake, as she tried to give a firm on. Erin frowned at it. She hated when men gave her that handshake, like she couldn’t handle a real one.  “I’m Herman Röttenfield, I run the facility here. I just need you to step into my office for a little bit so I can you set up.” They moved into his office and he offered her a seat in front of his desk. “Just need you to fill out some forms.”  He took a few papers from his desk and passed them to her. “Just fill these out and give me your press badge so I can check it out. “ She handed him her badge and began to fill out the forms. She looked around her, studying the pictures he had on his desk. He had a pretty wife, and two children. He caught her looking at them, and smiled. 

“Adorable, huh? The girl just one her first blue ribbon at a local horse show and the boy is starting soccer this spring.” She gave him a polite smile as he handed her the press badge back. “Everything seems to be in order, so let’s get this started.” He stood up and held the door for her on his way out.

“Mr. Röttenfield, I appreciate you allow me to tour your facilities. I’m sure you know that there have been some people concerned about the treatment of those in this facility. By allowing me this tour, maybe you can put to rest some of those concerns.”  She told him as they began to walk through the facilities. They moved through the prison, discussing the various prisoners there, how long they were there for and what various privileges they would earn for good behavior.

Suddenly the alarm sound throughout the building. Erin smiled as Mr. Röttenfield grabbed her and pulled her into a hallway. The hacker team was right on time. Mr. Röttenfield swore in German under his breath as lights flashed around them. She tripped, the heel of her shoe breaking and she scrambled to pick it up and get moving again. Coming to stop a few yards later, he looked like he was about to say something when he froze, and coughed up blood. His bright green eyes went wide as he looked at her. She gave him a dark smile and pulled the heel of her shoe from his chest were she had stabbed him. As he fell to the ground, she kneeled down beside him and one of his guards came up beside her, handing her a long fiberglass blade. She leaned in close to the German man and whispered softly to him.

“Such a shame you won’t be seeing your son play soccer, you looked so excited for it.” And slowly pulled the blade across his neck, and everything went dark for him. Tossing the blade back into her purse, she pulled off her shoes and took the bag the guard gave to her. He turned around as she slipped into the foot uniform and followed him into the chaos that had over taken the prison when security system went down. Most of the guards were trying to cull the riot that had started up after the doors had opened, and didn’t seem to notice her moving past them.

It wasn’t long before she had found the room that she was looking for. Walking into it, she smiled at the man who was sitting on the bed.

“Dad” She moved towards him, a wrapped her arms around the man she hadn’t seen in six years. He returned the embrace and held her tight.

“I missed you, my dear.” He whispered in her ear and pulled back to get a better look at her. He made a face at her. “I see Master Shredder has been keeping you busy.” He commented dryly. She squeezed his hand gently.

“I’ll tell you all about it on the ride home, but we need to get going.” She took his hand and pulled him into the still-reigning chaos.

Stepping back outside, Erin pulled out a cheap, phone and dialed a number. She let it ring four times, then hung up. A few seconds later a different phone rang and she answered it.

“Erin” her voice was clipped and to the point. She listened to the other end for a few seconds. “Yes, I got the cargo. We’re on our way back right now. We should be back at 2300 hours.” There was another pause. “Yes, I will.” She looked up as a helicopter came up above the ridge. “The pickup just arrived. We’ll meet you back at headquarters. Out.” She hung up the phone and tossed the first one she had onto the passenger seat as the helicopter landed. Two people jumped out, pulling a body bag with them, and brought it up to the car.

They pulled the body of the real Mrs. Johanson out of the bag, strapped it into the driver’s seat, and ran back. April turned to her Father and held out her hand.

“Ready to go?” she asked, warm affection in her eyes. Eric Sachs looked into her eyes for a few seconds, and then returned her smile.

“Let’s go back to our master,” he paused for just a moment. “Daughter.” She turned to their ride, and they climbed in. He looked out the window as the helicopter took off and when they were some distance away, Erin pull a detonation from under her seat and pushed the button. The car below them exploded in a ball of fire, and they disappeared over a mountain just as the sound of sirens filled the air. Eric leaned back in his seat and a dark smile came to his face.

 _It looks like everything is falling into place_ he thought.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Karai was waiting for them at the landing pad when they got back to New York.  She looked at the two who got out and gave them as false smile.

“Seems like you didn’t screw this one up _April._ ” She said mockingly. “Though you did leave quite a mess behind. It’s all over CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC.” The other Kunoichi bristled up and snarled at her counterpart.

“Don’t you _EVER_ call me by that name.” Erin said, moving up close to Karai. “You have no right to call me that name.” The Japanese woman gave her a false hurt look.

“Aww, but you let that _monster_ call you that.” Came the reply. “I thought we were closer than you and it.”

“I have no clue how that thing knows my true name.” she snarled. “Master Shredder and my Father changed it to protect me from _them_.”  Eric moved between the two kunoichi and held up his hands.

“As much as I would love to see my” Something flashed in his eyes that Erin could not quite catch. “ _Daughter_ beat you senseless, we must go see Master Shedder.” Karai scowled at him, but did not argue. The three walked into the building, the two foot ninja that manned the doors bowing low for them. Erin acknowledged them with the barest of nods, while the other two ignored them completely.

They made their way down to the lower levels in building, Erin in front, followed by Eric and Karai. Eric gave a questioning glance to the tall woman beside him. Karai shook her head at him and continued to walk into a large room that looked like a set from an old samurai movie. The Shedder sat on a low platform at one end of the room. His three disciples knelt in front of him and bowed low. The leader of the clan swept a critical eye over them.

“You may take a seat.” He said, waving his hand to three cushions on the floor in front of him. When they had taken their seats, Shedder nodded to Eric. “It’s good to see that your time in prison wasn’t too detrimental to you, Sachs. You should thank your daughter for asking me to remove you from there. I hope that this time you will not disappoint me.” He turned to the American Kunoichi and smiled. “You have been most useful my dear, I must say that the prison break went off without a hitch.” Karai growled from her seat.

“Pardon me, my Master, but was it not a disaster? It is all over the news! They have been able to connect it to us!”  She slammed a fist to the ground and glared at Erin. It only irritated her more when Erin didn’t even look at her, but kept her eyes on Shedder, a soft glow of pride in her eyes. “Not to mention she revealed herself to the turtles!” Shedder just smiled.

“All part of my plan, my dear. Now the world knows we have returned, and we will rule it. As for the turtles, this is only the first step in slowly destroying them.” He turned to Erin. “I take it you’re ready for the next step?” Erin bowed her head.

“Yes, Master Shredder.” He smiled.

“Good, good. It will be delightful to see you get revenge on what they did to your poor Father and Sachs.” He looked from her to Karai. “You both may leave now,” he said, waving them away. “I will call for you, Erin, when it is time for you to implement the second part of our plan.”

“Yes, Master Shredder.” The two Kunoichi bowed one last time, rose and left the room. As soon as the door closed behind them, Sachs turned back to Shredder, his eyes angry.

“Daughter? You want me to call her my _Daughter?”_ He hissed to his Master. “If it had not been for her meddling, I would be rich beyond my dreams and you would rule New York by now!” Shredder raised a hand to silence him.

“In good time, Sachs, in good time.” Shredder rose and turned to a map of New York behind him. “We will rule this city, and soon the world as we had intended to from the beginning.” Sachs looked at his Master questioningly.

“But how is she supposed to defeat the turtles, she is only human.” He asked.

“Not anymore.” Shredder said with a nasty smile on his face. “We figured out a way to use the mutagen to enhance her abilities to that of the orange one, a quick and lethal beauty. And with her relationship with the red one, we have a way to defeat them once and for all.” Eric watched him for a moment and then smiled.

“Will it be painful?” the former entrepreneur asked, his eyes lit up in a dark joy.

“Very.” Shredder replied, and laughed darkly and waved to the map.  “Now, let us see how we will split up this city.”


	5. Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The turtle find April ad they bring her home, as her plan starts into motion. Mentions of rape in this chapter.

“We should head back for the night.” Leo announced. Mikey and Raph stopped and turned to their leader. A bitter cold rain fell around them, icy needles on their skin. Donatello was still back at the lair, looking for any sign of her he could online. “It’s getting late, and the weather is getting worse.”

Raph scowled darkly out across the rooftops. It had been over two weeks since she had first attacked him. They couldn’t find any trace of her, nor any of the Foot Clan. Then, just the day before, the news reported that a Super Max Prison had been broken into, and Eric Sachs had escaped during the chaos of the resulting riot, which ended with a few of the prisoners and many of the guards being killed. When they had interviewed one of the guards who had helped Sachs escape, they declared that the Foot Clan was back and they had bigger plans then what they had before. It made them all sick knowing that April had been a part of the entire thing.

“I donno know Leo, maybe we can look around just a little more-“ Mikey was cut off by a sudden sound behind them. They whipped around, drawing their weapons. A figure stood on the other side, drenched, something hanging loosely in one hand, and the other hand clung to their side. The turtles moved into a fighting stance, ready for anything. Stepping from the shadows, blood trickled down the figure’s temple.  

“April?” Mikey said in a near whisper, his eyes wide, focused or her approaching figure. She took a few shaky steps towards them, and everyone but Raph tensed up. She froze and her eyes went wide, taking a tentative step back, shaking badly.

“Please,” she whimpered, her voice small and scared. “I need your help. Mas-“ She stopped and shook her head. “The Shredder tricked me into helping Sachs escape. He told me that everything was a lie. That Sachs killed my father, and he used me to get to you. He said I had outlived my usefulness and he that didn’t need me anymore. Then he had Karai and the other foot members beat me. She was about to kill me when I managed to catch her off-guard and escape.” Wide blue eyes looked at the turtles, pleading “Please help me. I don’t know what to do. I don’t where I can go. I just…” she broke off into sobbing, her knees giving out on her as she collapsed onto the rooftop. “Please help me.”

Raph immediately had his sais sheathed and was next to her in a heartbeat. As he gathered her into his arms, she flinched slightly, but he attributed that to what she had just gone through. Pulling her close, he pressed his face into her wet hair.

“It’s okay.” He murmured “Everythin’ is going ta be okay, I’m here April, it’s gonna be okay.” He felt his brothers move up close to them. He could tell that Leo was still a little tense, but Mikey knelt down next to him, and placed a hand on April’s shoulder.

“Here, give your kusarigama, and we can head home, okay?” the youngest turtle asked gently and held out his hand. She froze for a second, eyes wary, but she slowly moved to give it to him. Leo watched all of this unfold cautiously.

“I’m calling Donatello.” He said, pulling out his phone out of his belt and hitting the speed dial. Leonardo put it on speaker and let it ring, knowing that the intellectual brother could be absent-minded and take a bit to notice the phone ringing.  Raph looked up at him, frowning.

“What for?” asked Raph, a slight hostile tone to his voice. Leo regarded his brother calmly. He wanted nothing more than to get the shivering woman dry and warm, but he still had to take precautions.

“I just want to make sure she’s not bugged with anything. We’ll meet him in that abandoned warehouse where we can at least get her wounds checked out and we won’t lead anyone back to our place.” The ringing stopped as Donnie finally picked up the phone.  

“Leo?” the purple turtle asked, sounding slightly distracted.

“We found her. She says that the Shredder told her the truth and roughed her up pretty bad. We’re going to need you to bring the medical kit.” Leo replied, getting straight to business. There was a slight hesitation on the other end.

“Are you sure she isn’t…” Donnie began, but was cut off.

“Bring that too. Meet us at the warehouse.  See you there in five.” He hung up and turned to the other two. Raph had already collected up April in his arms, and both seemed ready to go.

“I’m taking lead,” Leo ordered them. “Raph, you’ll be behind me and Mike, I want you to take up the rear in case anything happens.” They both fell in behind him, moving quickly and silently across rooftops, slipping into the shadows of the night.

Erin in the meantime, was confused. The turtles had shown nothing but concern for her and the red one currently was cradling her to his chest like she was made of glass. They were her sworn enemy, why where they treating her the way they were? They didn’t even suspect that she was tricking them, just that she was bugged.

She did have to quietly admire the easy way she was being carried. Raphael didn’t even seem to be bothered by her weight at all. In the brief flashes of light she could see the curve of his muscles ripple under his scales and a wave of heat coursed through her body. Flushing, she inwardly cursing herself. Why was she reacting this way? They killed her father, ruined her life, but…

She couldn’t help but feel safe in the largest one’s arms. He held on to her tighter as he jumped onto a building that was lower then the one they had been on.

“Easy, I’ve got ya.” He said softly to her. He looked down to her for a brief second, and she felt her heart squeeze. The look in his eyes said that she was the most important thing in the world to him. “You okay?” She managed to nod and press herself closer to him. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you dry and patched up here soon.”

They continued their way across the rooftops until they reached an abandoned warehouse near the river. Going through an open window, April saw the last of the brothers standing near a cot. He was sorting through the medical kits on a nearby table when Leonardo moved up next to him, as Raphael gently laid her down on the cot. He smiled warmly down at her and laid his hand on her shoulder, taking a blanket that Mikey was handing to him.

“Don’t worry, Donnie’ll fix you right up.” Raph told her as he wrapped her up in the thick military surplus blanket. He looked at the turtle who was messing with a small handheld device. Mikey leaned against a nearby post, keeping watch while the others attended to April.

“Since she has nothing life threatening, I’ll just do a quick scan first.” Donatello looked over her quickly, and started to slowly move the device her legs, working his way up.  He continued to move up and down her body in slow, steady movements, until he nodded in satisfaction, and turned it off.

“She clean?” The Leo asked, every inch of his body tense, like he was ready to either fight or take off if necessary. The Donnie turned to the table, and started to collect up a towel and a large bowl. “She’s good. I’m just going to wash up and then I’ll get started.”

While he was off getting cleaned up, Leo looked over at April, who was shivering on the cot. Raph wrapped his arm around her shoulders, trying to give her some warmth, and stroked her hair. When he leaned over and kissed the top, they all noticed her visibly flinch. Leo frowned at the action and went and knelt down next to her.

“Did they hurt you?” The leader asked, searching hers eyes. She averted her eyes from his and he swore softly. Mikey looked _livid_ from his place as look out and Raph just pulled her closer to him, pressing his face deep in her hair.

“They haven’t touched me like that in years, but in the beginning…” she trailed off, looking down, _ashamed,_ like what had happened was somehow her fault. Dark anger raged in Leo’s chest. He would have the head of whoever had touched his Hogosha like that. Shaking his head, he mentally corrected himself, their Hogosha, not his. If she was anyone’s specifically, it was Raph. He looked back at April as she continued to speak to them. “Look, I just want to forget any of that ever happened, okay? I’m physically fine, and all I really want to do is get back at those bastards who hurt me. I wanted nothing more than to make them scream.” Her voice and eyes were hard, and they all stopped to look at her. Her vibrant blue eyes where dark with anger and hatred, nothing like they had seen before. Raph tipped her head up to meet his eyes, his own anger matching hers.

“Don’t worry, Babe. We’ll get those bastards back, every one of ‘em. We’ll make ‘em pay for what they did to ya.” She gave Raph a dazzling smile, and Leo again had to suppress the jealous feeling that came to him. Mikey looked over at them from where he was standing, nodding in agreement.

“Yah Angelcakes, we’ll take care of all those assholes, just wait until you get better.” The youngest turtle said, an unusually dark look on his face. The two younger turtles looked over at Leo, who nodded in agreement.

“They attacked you without any provocation. We will show them what happens when they mess with our family.” Leo added, clenching his fist tightly.  Any other words where halted by Donnie coming back to them, the bowl filled with warm water. Dipping a towel into the bowl, he began to wipe away the blood around her temple. She flinched at the touch, and Raph glared at their pseudo-medic.

“Easy, April, I know it stings, but I have to clean it to see the damage.” Donatello said gently, continuing to clean her wound. He frowned as more of the blood came off. “You’re going to need stitches for this one.” He continued. “I’m sorry we don’t have any painkillers for it.” She just smiled at him as he finished cleaning the gash on her temple

“Don’t worry, I’m used to it.” She said. “I’ve stitched myself up without painkillers before- I can handle it.”

She didn’t flinch as he stitched it up, the only sign of pain in gripping Raph’s hand a little tighter. Donnie taped it up, and continued to treat the various scrapes and bruises on her, but the head wound seemed to be the worse. While he was working, he asked various questions to make sure that she didn’t have a concussion, and when he was satisfied that she didn’t have one, he patted her gently on the shoulder and turned to his brothers.

“We should get her home and into dry clothes before she ends up with pneumonia.” Donnie said. “Other than that, she’s good to go.” Leo nodded while Raph smiled down at her.

“Ya ready to go home babe?” Raph asked, looking into her eyes. She seemed hesitant for a second, then smiled back.

“Yah, home sounds good.” April said softly.

 


	6. Bathtime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The turtles settle April/Erin into the lair, and she goes over her options.

Erin tried to memorize the way to the lair, but the turtles kept on back tracking and heading in different directions. They weren’t stupid, that’s for sure, doing all of this to make sure they weren’t followed. After about 20 minutes of running around the tunnels, they came to a large gate, and security panel blinking next to it. Leonardo moved out of the way to allow Donatello through to put in the security code. There was a few beeps, some flashing green lights, and a loud _click_ as the gate opened up. They all filed inside, Michelangelo closing the door behind him, then heading to a room not far from the entrance, placing her weapon on a table near the door. Leonardo when off into a different room as Raphael set her down on a couch, Donatello tossing another blanket over her.

“I’m going to get a bath started.” He said, giving her one of his winning smiles. “That sound good, Angelcakes?” Erin had to remind herself that he was addressing her.

 _My name here is April,_ She reminded herself mentally. _The orange one is Michelangelo, and he calls me Angelcakes, but he’s only joking with me._ The blue turtle, the leader of their little clan, returned with a stack of towels and began to pass them around.

“Here” he said, handing her a stack of clothing. “They’re probably a bit big on you, but they’re dry and warm.” She muttered a soft thank you as he went to give a towel to Mikey. _That’s Leonardo. He’s the one to watch out for. Might become suspicious about anything if I make a wrong move._ The oldest turtle left the bathroom and handed a towel to the last one, the one in purple.

“Do you want something to eat?” he asked her, his eyes made huge by his glasses. _That’s Donatello, he’s the most intelligent of the group. Master Shredder would like to try and recruit him._ She smiled at him, as her stomach complained loudly, causing her to blush. As Donatello and Leonardo went into the kitchen to cook something, she felt a large hand gently squeeze her shoulder. She looked up at the large turtle behind her.

“Guess that’s your answer, huh Babe?” the red one teased. _And lastly, we have Raphael. He’s the one I’m in a ‘relationship’ with. Been dating him since sometime after the incident at father’s tower. High chance that he is my lover._ The way his gold eyes sparkled softly at her, like she meant the world to him, said he was.  She felt him hold her tighter, and press his lips against her temple. Fighting the urge to move away, she turned her face to his and nuzzled it affectionately. In return he flashed her a smile that made her heart race again.

 _You just find him attractive somehow,_ she thought to herself.  _He’s kind of good-looking for a giant mutant turtle._ She allowed herself to look over his impressive body, and wondered how big his was. _Maybe if I impress Master Shredder enough with this mission, he’ll allow me to keep this one._

Then the youngest came out of the bathroom, tendrils of steam floating in behind him, filling the air with the scent of lilacs.

“The bath is ready.” Michelangelo said, gesturing to the door. April stood up and gathered the things that Leonardo had given her and moved to the bathroom. Raphael got up after her, and moved in the opposite direction.

“Gimme a hand with getting her room together.” He said, motioning to his younger brother.  Michelangelo followed him, giving April a gentle pat on her shoulder as he went past.

Moving into the bathroom, she closed the door, and stripped off her wet clothing. On the edge of the tub, there was shampoo and body wash, clearly for her use. Slipping into the tub, she closed her eyes and let her mind wander.

Sitting in the warm water, surrounded by the oddly familiar scent of lilacs, she began doze off slightly. Resting in a hazy state, a memory that seemed like it was from another lifetime came to her.

_She felt him shift behind her, his arm tightening around her middle. Looking up into the mask less face of Raph, she gave him a lazy smile as she snuggled closer to him. The hot water of the large tub created a steamy environment, and then sent of Dragon’s Blood filled the air. Knowing that Leonardo and Michelangelo would be on patrol for a few more hours, Master Splinter was deep in meditation, and nothing short of a catastrophic disaster would pull Donatello out of his lab, the two had decided to steal some time away in the extremely large bathtub, with the door locked, just in case._

_Raph pushed her gently away from him, and began to slowly rub down her back, his strong hand working in slow, easy circles. Paying special attention to her burned shoulder, which she had injured earlier trying to move a bookcase._

_“Looks like a simple sprain.” He told her, moving to the other shoulder. “I’ll put that heat pad on it when we get done in here.” He finished up her other shoulder and began to gently trail his fingers down her sides._

_“Oh?” she asked, arching an eyebrow at him “And what’s do left in here? I’m done washing up.” She gasped as her pressed his face in her neck, lips ghosting over her skin._

_Raphael smiled as she arched into him, as she slowly melted at his attentions._

_“Raph,” she gasped, panting slightly as his lips went up to graze her temple.  “Please Raph, I…”_

_“You what?” he asked, moving down her ear, giving the lobe a small nip. “Tell me what you want.” She whimpered as his hands brushed up and down her stomach._

_“You.” She moaned, turning her head to desperately try to reach his lips. “I want you.” Raph cupped her chin with one hand, as the other continued to roam up and down her body._

_“As you wish.” He murmured, taking her mouth with his own._

April sat straight up, breathing heavily. What the hell was that? Her cheeks where warm, and not from the bath. She could still feel his hands on her. It had to just be a fantasy. She always had a thing for large guys, but it being that there were not many like that in the foot clan, it had been what- a year? - since she had a physical relationship. That was it, just some physical need to have someone in her bed. April shook her head to clear it of the remaining wisps of the seemingly real memory.

 _The plan,_ she thought to herself, _you have to focus on the plan._ She had to cause a major rift between the brothers, using her relationship with Raphael. Just get one of them jealous, and slowly work with that. The only question was who to work with.

Donatello? Maybe- but she could tell that he was an omega type pretty easily. She’d have to drop some major hints that she was interested in him to get him up against the clearly alpha Raph. She dunked under the cooling water to get her hair wet and reached for the shampoo, starting to rub it into her hair.

Michelangelo? This one seemed to have a little more promise. The youngest had a crush on her, and despite of how naive he acted, she knew he was a formidable ninja. The damage he had done to the slave traffickers that had moved into the foot’s territory that she was supposed to deal with proved that. If he was pushed enough, he could be a dangerous one to deal with. Add in the fact that none of the older turtles would want to hurt their little brother, he was a definite ‘maybe’. She leaned back to rinse out her hair, turning her to the last one. Frowning, she shook her head.

Leonardo- definitely out. He had too much honor to try and take her from Raph. Too much pride as a leader to even think about making himself happy. It was a shame really, he would be such a powerful ally if he wasn’t so good. From what Master Shredder and Karai had told her, Leonardo was one of the best strategists they had ever seen, being able to come up with a plan on the fly as things happened around them.

April leaned back into the tub, allowing her mind to continue to wander over the possibilities.

Meanwhile, Donnie was finishing heating up dinner as Leo set the table for five for the first time in five years. Even after Master Splinter had died, they kept at least five complete sets of dishes, even if they didn’t match, just in case April came back. The Purple turtle made a mental note to give April a better checkup in the morning after training, so he could get an idea of how her health was and see if they had messed with her when she was captured by the clan. Continuing to stir the thick stew, he turned to Leo, who was setting the last of the bowls on the table.

“Think you could go grab the other two and April?” Donatello asked his older brother. “Dinner’s about done.” His brother nodded and went out to the spare room that Mikey and Raph was in.

The two had just finished putting the bed together, and Leo stopped short when he saw what blanket they had gotten for her. It had been Master Splinter’s, the one she had made for him out of her father’s old shirts she had kept. Looking at his two younger brothers, it was Mikey that spoke.

“I thought that maybe, since she doesn’t remember too much of us, that this blanket might help her remember, you know, _us_.”  He looked up at Leo, his bight blues meeting Leo’s own darker ones unflinching. “Master Splinter would have wanted her to have it.” Looking back at his brother for a little bit, Leo nodded and moved to leave the room.

“Dinner’s about ready. I’m getting April; you two help Don with what’s left.” He turned and left the other two to finish up there and move onto the kitchen, while he went to the bathroom to get April. He knocked on the door first, and when he didn’t get an answer, he tested the knob and saw that it was was unlocked. Pushing it open, he stepped in the bathroom.

“April, is everything okay-“ he froze when he heard her squeak in surprise and cover what she could of herself with the towel. He thought she was beautiful before but now- now she was absolutely _stunning._ She had lost weight in some areas, but gained muscle tone in others.

Lean arms that showed years of practice with her weapon wrapped around her slender torso, peppered with scars from training and fighting with real weapons. As his eyes moved down her body, he could only guess that her abs were as well-formed as the rest of her. The curve of her back went down to jut out, forming a pert ass that lead down to what he always liked best on a woman- her legs. Muscular and well- toned, he felt heat come into his veins as his thoughts turned to wondering just how long she would be able to-

“Leo?” he was cut from his thoughts suddenly and he turned red as he his eyes upward to April’s concerned face. “You okay?” she asked, eyes studying him. Turning a darker red, he nodded, and stammered an apology.

“I’m sorry- I should have knocked louder, I didn’t mean-“ April smiled gently at him as she cut him off with a wave of her hand.

“It’s okay Leo- I know you didn’t mean it. I was thinking about something and didn’t notice you knocking. What did you need?” She asked, her eyes still staring into his own. Clearing his throat, Leo remember why he had come here in the first place.

“Dinner about ready, so when you’re done you can just come to the kitchen.” He motioned to a rope line behind them. “You can just toss your wet stuff on that line back there.” He rubbed the back of his head, heart still pounding. “Sorry again.” April just shook her head.

“It’s okay, I know you didn’t mean it. Go on, I’ll just finish getting dressed, and I’ll be right in, okay?” Leo nodded and turned to leave. Stopping in the doorway, he turned back to her. “Just- remember to lock the door next time, please.” April nodded in response.

“Yah, it’s just been a while- used to communal bathrooms.” She replied, and satisfied with her answer, he left, closing the door behind him.

As it clicked shut, a triumphant smile came across April’s face. She had the one that she needed, that was for sure. And she thought he would be the least likely one. The sheer desire in his eyes said differently, and now all she had to do was put her plan into effect. Putting on the over-sized sweats he had given her, and tossed her uniform over the line as she began to set up how exactly she was going to destroy the Hamato clan.

 


	7. Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With April's return, and Spring on the horizon, Leonardo deals with feelings that he never had before.

Leonardo was up early, despite the late night. He enjoyed the quiet of their home before his brother got up and started to go on with the day. It gave him time to meditate and focus on things that were troubling him without any interruption, and give his katanas their daily cleaning.  As he rubbed the oil into the metal, his thoughts focused on the former reporter that had fallen so suddenly into their laps after being gone for so long. He remembered the graceful way she moved after getting cleaning herself up, sleek and feline in her movements.

Then he remembered Raph, constantly asking if she needed anything, always right there next to her. It was insanely out of character for his brother, but Leo guessed if he was in Raph’s position, he’d be the same way. Later, Leo watched him tucking April in bed, knowing his brother wanted nothing more than to curl up next to her and watch her while she slept and he felt the sting of jealousy deep in his soul.  The leader hated the slithery feeling that came to his stomach when he thought of them together. He was expected to make sacrifices that would improve his brothers, and Raphael’s relationship with April had always been a big one. She helped sooth his temperament, and there were fewer outburst because of it.

But….

But Leonardo wanted her affection more than anything else in the world. He wanted their _Hogosha_ to be his, for her smile, her laugh, her gentle touches, all that to be his. Last night only made the longing worse and add the fact that spring was starting, disaster could strike at any minute. They were all more aggressive this time of year, and with April back with them, it wasn’t going to be good.

The last spring before April disappeared hadn’t been too bad. Master Splinter had explained to her what was going on, and she seemed to take it in stride. She had taken Raph up with her to an old farmhouse that she had in upstate New York and it had taken some of the strain away from the lair. The two came back near the end of mating season, and it was pretty clear that April and Raph had been busy, from the sight small mark on her neck.

He was shaken from his thoughts by a sound at the doorway. The object of his thoughts and desires stood there, her kusarigama in her hand. She was dressed in some clothing she had left at the lair years ago, and they didn’t seem fit quite right, but it was better than nothing. His eyes went to her neck, and saw that the mark was still there. Not that he couldn’t make one of his own to cover it up. She smiled at him when he noticed her, making his heart jump, and held up held up her weapon.

“Hey,” she said, moving into the room. “I was wondering if you had anything I could clean this with?”  Leo reached behind him and grabbed a spare cleaning kit, tossing it to her. She caught it and sat down cross-legged on the floor. Pulling out the rag, she dabbed it in the oil, and began to run over the blade of the scythe in small, easy circles. He paused to watch her, her face quiet and focused on her task. Her scent began to fill the room, and Leo closed his eyes to breathe her in. Her original scent was now mixed with new ones- oil and leather from her weapon, and she no longer used the pear body wash she loved so much, instead, going for Cherry Blossom. It made him light headed, and he had to open his eyes to make it go away.

“What attracted you to the kusarigama?” he asked, going back to his work.  A thoughtful look came across her face as she moved down the chain of her weapon.

“It just seemed to fit me.” She said. “I like the fact that it has long and short ranged capabilities. I can overpower my opponent before getting in close and finishing them off.” Leo flinched at the way her tone suggested something he really didn’t want to think about- the idea of her killing people. It made him sick to think that his beloved _Hogosha_ , his guardian spirit, had blood on her hands. She finished with her task, and handed the kit back to Leo, who put it back on the self behind him. “Anywhere I can put this?” she asked, picking up her weapon. Leo jerked his head to an empty hook behind her.

“Back there should be fine.” She turned away, and reached to hang the kusarigama.

“Thank you.” She said, turning back to him, Leo just shrugged.  

“It was nothing.” He said, as he began to finish up his task.  April shook her head.

“No Leo, I mean for everything. Taking me in even after I hurt Raph, it just means so much to me.”

He was about to say something else when his brothers came in for morning training.  Instinct immediately pegged them as competition for the female’s attention, and it took all of Leonardo’s discipline not to growl at them. Raph did catch the hostile look in his eyes, and raised an eye ridge at him. Then he saw April, who had stood up when they had walked in the room, move over to him, stand on her tiptoes, and wraped her arms around Raphael’s neck. Leo tightened his grip on the hilt of the blade, shut his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them, Raph had pulled her close to him and buried his face in her hair. Standing abruptly, Leo cleaned up the cleaning kit and walked past his brothers towards the dojo.

“It’s time for training.” He said sharply to them, walking inside. Following them to the doorway, April leaned against the frame, looking around the room.

“You think I could join you?” she asked, watching as they moved into warm-up stretches. The turtles all looked to Donatello, who shook his head.

“I want to give you a proper examination before I can give you the green light.” He said. “After that, it’s up to Leo.”

“We’ll see what happens.” Leonardo replied, and moved from the warm up into his basic katas. “You can watch us if you want.” He added, nodding to a platform at one end of the room. April moved onto it, and settled herself down to watch them fight.

It was interesting watching how different their fighting styles were, even though they were trained by the same person.

Donatello was always calculating his movements, trying to stay two or three steps ahead of Michelangelo, which was kind of difficult as the youngest turtle seemed unpredictable. They came together, Donnie trying to trip up his brother with a sweep of his Bo, but Mikey avoided it by jumping over the weapon. He retaliated with an attempted strike to Donnie’s chest, but the purple turtle, ducked down and placed his shoulder into the orange one, knocking him to the ground.

April, finished with her assessment of the two younger turtles, then turned to focus onto the older ones. Leonardo was exact in his movements, each strike clean and precise. Today there was something more to his fighting. She smiled as she saw his eyes move to her and back to Raph, almost too quick to notice. Raph caught one of Leo’s katanas in the prongs of his sai, and easily disarmed him. Leo just smiled at his brother, and she saw him check to make sure she was till watching. Moving into a different position, he charged at Raph. The red turtle was caught off guard by this clearly uncharacteristic move and was just barely able to avoid the attack.

Leonardo was focused on the larger turtle in front of him. After seeing the intense way April was watching his fight, a rush of _something_ hit him. All he really knew was that he had to show April that he was a better choice for her. He was the strongest, the leader of the group, the true Alpha, so it should be obvious she should be with him. He lunged at Raph as his brother met him, blocking Leo’s attack with his sais. Leo pushed the attack, forcing his brother into total defense, determined to put this Beta in his place. He had first choice for mates, and April, being the only female around, she was supposed to be HIS. Raph was saying something to him, but the only thing he could comprehend at that moment was April’s scent and the fact that it was all over this rival male.

Raph couldn’t believe that whoever he was currently sparing was Leonardo. His attacks felt different, like he was actually trying to hurt him. There was a dark determination in Leo’s eyes as he continued his endless barrage of attacks. Then, Raph saw Leo look over at April out of the corner of his eye, and what was going on hit him. Leo was showing off for April- at least had started off doing so. Now it seemed like the older brother was flat-out _fighting_ him for her. Like she would just change her mind if he was defeated. Raph had to snort at that idea. If April still wanted him after he got his shell handed to him by the Shedder, she wouldn’t be fazed by Leo taking advantage of this kind of situation, which only pissed Raph off even more. This was supposed to be only sparing, not an actual fight.  

April, in the meantime, was watching the fight intently, a true look of shock on her face. She didn’t expect it to escalate this quickly. This wasn’t good- she had to stall some more somehow. It would be a week before the plan could move on to the next level. She frowned as Leo swept his leg, causing Raph to lose balance and stumble backwards. It was like he wasn’t in control of his own body as he pressed the tip of his weapon to his brother’s throat. Leo stood there, breathing heavily as Raph watched him, stunned.

“Leo!” he heard someone else’s voice snap at him. He turned, a half-growl in his throat at the possibility that anyone else would challenge him for _his_ April. What he saw was his two younger brothers; Donnie with a stern look on his face, and Mikey just looking shocked as he slowly backed away from the blue masked brother.

“Raph!” Leo turned to see April rush to his brother, and it was only then it kicked in what just occurred. Pulling his katana away from his brother, he took a step back, shaking his head. What the _hell_ had just happened? He closed his eyes and took deep breaths, trying to steady his heart rate. When he opened them again, Raph was right up in front of him, his face in a dark snarl. 

“What the hell was that about?” Raphael growled, getting up close to him. This only brought back the raging competitive feeling that had come over Leo. He pulled himself to his full, height, despite the fact that he was a few inches shorter than Raph, and was about to say something when April caught their attention.

“Raph, you’re bleeding!” She said, tugging at the red turtle’s arm. Leo’s eyes went to his brother’s neck and saw a small trickle of blood moving down it. He must have nicked it at some point, and suddenly Leo felt ashamed.

“Raph, I-“ He was cut off by Donatello stepping in between them.

“I suggest we head to the infirmary.” The tall turtle said gently. “I’ll patch up Raph and then check out April.” The three of them left the dojo, all while April fussed over Raph, asking if he was okay.

Michelangelo was silent until he was sure they were gone.

“Dude, what was that about?” he asked, still keeping is distance from his older brother. “I know it’s getting to that time of year, but you know that Raph loves April more than anything in this world.” Leo saw a look of disappointment come to his baby brother’s face as he turned to leave the dojo. “I’ll come get you when breakfast is ready.” And with that, the orange turtle left the room, leaving Leo to his own thoughts.

 


	8. Checkup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The turtles see what April's capable of.

“It’s really shallow, so all I need to do it cover it up.” Donatello said, cleaning the blood from the nick on Raphael’s neck. He frowned deeply as he taped it up with a bandaide. It was unusual to see Leonardo act like that, even at this time of year. Making a mental note to talk to him about it later, Donatello turned to April. “If you want to hop up on the table, I’ll check over you.”

She moved to where he stood and easily lifted herself on the table that had been built to accommodate the turtle’s height. Donnie arched an eye ridge. While she was more toned, she shouldn’t have been able to do that easily.

“Did they do testing on you?” He asked, as he gathered up a few things that he needed for the checkup.

“A few times,” She admitted, rolling her shoulders and looking around. “I think they used something similar to what you guys were tested with.” Raphael frowned from his place beside her.

“That ain’t good.” He said, looking over at Donatello. “Who knows what the Shredder coulda produced with somethin’ like that.” April shook her head.

“Just me,” She said, as Donatello checked her heart rate. “There were two others, but they couldn’t handle it.” There was a bitterness in her voice that made the brothers cringe. “It was pretty messy in the end. The Doctors at the lab thought I was able to handle it because I was exposed to it as a kid.”

 _“Or something else.”_ Raph thought, memories of their nights together causing him to flush.

“What was the result of it?” The purple turtle continued, as he began to move her limbs around. He frowned when he found that he couldn’t pull her arm down, and shock came to his face when he realized she was holding the arm in one place.

“The typical ‘Super Serum’ stuff, enhanced speed, agility, strength. “ She informed him, relaxing her arm so he could continue with his examination.

“Any adverse side effects to it?” Donatello continued, gathering the stuff he needed to draw blood. April looked to the ground, and she flinched. The two brothers looked at her as she bit her lip and sighed.

“One.” She said bitterly, wrapping her arms around herself. “Not one that they minded either.” She paused and Raph laid a hand on her shoulder in a comforting manner. She swallowed hard and pressed on. “There was a bad reaction with my…” she stopped and turned red, clearly uncomfortable with what she was trying to say. Donatello spared her anything further by speaking up.

“Left you infertile?” He asked, taking the arm she offered in for his blood sample. She nodded, and Raph pulled her as close as he could without disturbing what Donnie was doing. He kissed the top of her head, and gave her a gentle squeeze.

“It’s okay babe.” He murmured softly to her, stroking her hair. Donnie finished getting the blood samples he needed and motioned for her to get off the table.

“Let me get Leo out of the Dojo, and I want to the extent of what you can do, okay?” The passive turtle told her, and she saw him frown at the memory of what the eldest had done earlier as he left the room. “I have no clue what is wrong with him.” April felt Raph tense up behind her and she had to contain her smile. Between this and the youngest of them yelling at him as they had left the Dojo, things where already starting to go her way. She reached up and touched his hand.

“You okay big guy?” She asked warmly, flashing him a brilliant smile. He returned it with his own toothy grin, and she flushed. It was strangely attractive on him, and so different than the normal scowl he wore. Without even thinking about it, she leaned up and kissed him on his lips, and he returned it with a passion that caused her heart to skip a beat. Leaning more into it, desiring the feel of his body against hers. One large hand dug into her hair, and the other was placed at her lower back, pulling her closer.

Raph groaned as April continued her assault with her lips. Licking her lower lip slightly, she opened her mouth willingly to him, with a soft whimper. He was about to slide his hands under her shirt, when someone cleared their throat behind them. Raph whirled around to see Donatello take a step back, hands up in a pacifying manner.

“I just wanted to tell you that Leo went for a run and the Dojo is clear- if you’re not busy, that is.” He told them and walked back out of the room. The both of them where the color of Raphael’s bandanna, and April pulled away, jumping off the table.

“We should finish this up.” She said quickly, straightening out her shirt. “He’ll probably interrupt something else next time if it doesn’t get done.” She added. “Or Mikey might walk in” Raph nodded and watched her leave the room, taking some time to calm himself down.  A small smile came to his face as hope blossomed in his chest. Maybe he could get her to remember what they had been.

In the meantime, April was feeling confused. She should be disgusted with the idea of being in a physical relationship with the monstrosity that killed her father, but she found herself _wanting_ him. She had felt his rising manhood through the leather he wore, and for some unexplainable reason, she wanted it- badly.

She shook her head to clear it, as she walked into the dojo, Raphael right behind her. Mikey stood in the center of the room talking to Donnie, looking unsure of what was about to happen. Donatello looked up as they walked in and motioned for Raph to sit on the sidelines. He was interested to see exactly what she could do, considering she had given him a run for his money on the rooftop the first time he had seen her in years.

“You’ll be sparing with Michelangelo.” Donatello said, as he set them up facing each other in the center of the mat. April bowed low as Donnie moved away, Mikey mimicking the movement after a confused moment. Then she set herself up into an attack position, standing on the balls of her feet as she began to swing the ball of her weapon in circles.

Mikey pulled out his nunchakus, glancing at Donnie as if he was double-checking that he really was going to spar her. When the purple turtle made no move to stop either of them, he turned back to April. Both gave each other a quick, playful smile- almost as if it were two children entering a playground.

“Ready, Angel-cakes?” asked Mikey, as he began to whirl the nunchuk on his right hand.

“Yeah, let’s do this.” Said April, who gave a quick chuckle, then let the ball on the end of the chain hit the ground while holding her weapon at the ready.

April kicked the chain-ball towards Mikey, which he quickly caught by wrapping his right nunchuk around the ball as it came towards him. He then pulled the chain, pulling April towards him, but April knew that was going to happen and leaped towards him as he pulled. Once the leap had closed the distance, April, who was still in midair, brought her knee up to Mikey's face- which he blocked using his left forearm in a side/downward block. As the turtle in orange had blocked her flying knee, the agile kunoichi grabbed on to his head and did something he didn't quite expect her to do- she leapfrogged over him.

Once April had landed, she rolled backwards, got into a handstand, and attempted to mule kick Mikey in the shell, but he had quickly spun out of the way as soon as she had leaped over him and parried the kick. She did another backwards roll, landed on her feet, then did a cartwheel and got back into her ready stance. Mikey, seeing this, nodded and chuckled.

“Okay. Okay! Yeah! I'm liking this!” He said gleefully, and started to move around the mat, swinging his arms low and shuffling his legs as if imitating Bruce Lee.

April rushed forward and then tried to slide underneath past Mikey, but he jump flipped forward, then turned around quickly to face her.

“Nuh-uh-uh-uhhh…” He said, as he wagged his finger at her, “Raph told me about that move. I may not be the smartest, but you won't catch me with that trick!”

“Aw schucks! You got me…” She pouted her lips jokingly, then tugged with her right hand the chain she was still holding on to and said, “Check your foot, by the way.” Mikey fell on his back, and only then noticed that her chain was wrapped around his right foot. He grinned as he realized that she must've thrown the chain at his foot as he was turning around to face her, but the chance to retaliate came too late as she had pounced on him and placed the blunt side of her kusarigama up to his throat.

“Mate'... Okay, you got me…” Mikey said, as April held her weapon firmly onto his throat. April smiled, then helped the orange turtle onto his feet.

Donatello was impressed, to say the lease. Where the youngest lacked in the strength, strategic, and intellectual skill, he made up in his speed and ability to react and adapt to the situation. Donnie was pretty sure that if Mikey even applied himself in the slightest, he could easily be the best ninja out of all of them. Not that Don was eager to find that out. When April was gone, it seemed like Mikey was the only one keeping them together.

To see April be able to keep up with Mikey was impressive in itself. To see her _defeat_ Mikey….Donnie was even more curious to see what training she had been through, even if some tiny part of him said that it would be a bad idea. He continued to watch the two of them banter on about the fight, and saw Raph come up and wrap one massive arm around her.

“Why don’t we take her to the training room to see if she can out-press Mikey?” The red turtle teased, earning a glare from the said brother.

“Come on man, why do you have to emasculate me like that!” Michelangelo shot back as they headed to the training room.

Donatello moved to follow them, but was stopped by a movement in the main doorway.

“Leo.” He stated and his older brother came into view. Leonardo frowned at the tone, but choose to ignore it.

“How is she?” He asked, as he looked to the room where they could hear Mikey and Raph arguing over what weight to start her out with.

“Basic enhanced abilities. Speed, agility, strength. They seemed to have focused on the speed and agility with her.” Don reported. “I’m not sure what they used to brainwash her yet, but it seems to have inlaid years of training into her memory. As far as she’s concerned, she’s been at this longer then we have.”

“Anything unusual?” the blue turtle asked, as he went to take up a practice sword. Donatello laughed.

“Other than her beating Mikey and getting Raph to smile? Nothing at all.” Donatello replied, heading back to his lab. “I’m going to look at these blood samples and see if I can find anything using the link April gave me.” He shot his older brother a knowing look. “I can’t believe it’s you I have to tell this to, but stay out of trouble. Right now we have no clue how volatile April is, and the smallest thing could set her off.”

Leo just nodded as Donnie left, and went to watch the spectacle that was happening in the weight room, to find April easily lifting 500 pounds. He leaned against the doorway, Mikey and Raph too wrapped up in trying to decide if she should do 550 or 600 next. She placed the bar back, shaking her head.

“I think I’m done for the day.” She told them, standing up. Her stomach choose to growl at that precise moment. She blushed, but smiled up at the two turtles beside her. “You guys hungry? I’m starving.”

Leo watched as his youngest brother eagerly led April and Raph out the other door, and sighed. That strange voice was telling him he had to prove himself to her again, but he turned back to the dojo to mediate and clear his head.


	9. Stuff of Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They all had a hard time sleeping that night.

There will be a shorter chapter posted up that depicts what Raph and April were doing while Don and Mikey had their talk a little later.

\---

His brother was still beside him. He could hear the clash of steel in the hallway as the other two fought the foot clan.

“Come on, Leo, get up.” There was no response from the leader. Raph just pushed harder. “Come on, Leo, this isn’t funny.” The largest turtle’s voice cracked as fear and panic coursed through him. He could feel the stickiness of the drying blood on his legs. A noise across the room caught his attention.

A figure was moving in the distance, though just barely. It was Erin- he refused to call that thing that had the face of his beloved April anything else. April, his April, the woman he had imagined spending the rest of his life with, had died years ago. Raphael’s breathing became heavier as he took his brother’s cold hand and pressed it close to his face.

“Leo, c’mon, you hafta to get up. I need you to get up.” Panic began to seize through him, and he reached up to check Leonardo’s pulse like Donnie had taught him. He was still for one minute, than two.

He felt nothing.

Raph felt like the tears were going to overwhelm him, then she moved again, trying to get up.

He snapped. He had to get rid of this abomination that pretended to care for him and his family.

Picking up his sais, he stalked over to the one person who had meant more than anything in this world to him, and stood over her.

“How could ya do this to us?” He hissed, his voice breaking. “You were our _Hogosha,_ our guardian.” The red turtle knelt down next to the woman who had once been the love of his life. His eyes traced the familiar form.

“What are you going to do?’ the beaten woman growled. “You couldn’t hurt me.” A dark smile came to Raphael’s face and he laughed.

“Yes I can.” He said, voice thick, as he pressed the tip of one sai into her skin, blood welling up from the incision. “I have to.”

 Taking his time, he drug the weapon down Erin’s torso. The woman snarled beneath him, and tried to move her arms.  Raph pressed his hand against the kunoichi’s chest.

“Now you stop that.”  He growled darkly, digging the blade into her lower abdomen. Erin continued to fight beneath him, and Raph used a free hand to clutch her shirt, and Erin began to scream in pain.

“Stop! Please stop! I’m begging you!” She cried “I’m sorry, Raph I’m so sorry.”  But he was too lost into the dark part of himself to care. He brought up a sai, and slammed it down into the monster that had taken over his April’s heart. She gave one last whimper, and reached up to touch his cheek with a shaky hand.

“I’m so sorry.” Came a soft whisper in a different tone, and Raph looked down as the hand slipped from his cheek, landing limply beside her. Soft, dark auburn hair haloed her face, which was scar less. In place of the foot soldier uniform she had on just moments ago, she was in her normal tee shirt and bright yellow jacket. _April._

He froze when he realized what he had done. He had killed her. In the end his temper, no matter how hard he tried to fight it, had hurt her.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, _NO._

He pulled her close to his chest, tears coming down his cheeks.

The feel for her cooling body only made the darkness that was threatening to consume him worse. He welcomed it, wanting to do nothing more than to drown in it.

He laid her down, kissing her cold lips.

“It’s all your fault.” Came a cold hiss. He turned to see Erin standing there, in foot uniform, her kusarigama swinging idly in her hands. Raph found he couldn’t move as he tried to pick up his weapons. All he could do was stand there as she came closer to him, blue eyes so icy cold.

“What do ya mean it _my_ fault!” he growled low, his gold eyes flashing darkly. She let out a cold, bitter laugh.

“If you had the balls to stand up to Leonardo, to tell him ‘No, I’m staying.’, this would have never happened.” She hissed. She moved up to him, using the scythe to tip his head up, and looked straight into his eyes. “Mister ‘I don’t need to listen to anyone’ got the woman he said he loved captured, beaten, raped, and brainwashed.” She bared her teeth in a feral smile. “Some boyfriend you are.” She moved behind him, pressing the blade to his neck. It was eerily similar to their first meeting on the roof top. “And to think she wanted to spend the rest of her life with you. Such a shame.”

He didn’t argue with her, he knew she was right. He should have fought harder to stay with her, to protect her, and now…

He shut his eyes, ready for that final cut, _welcoming_ it. He didn’t deserve to live after what he had caused her. He felt Erin press the blade harder to his throat, the steel digging into it. Warm blood spilled down his front, and he began to feel woozy, head spinning. She stepped away, and he fell to the ground.  As Erin walked away, he used the last of his strength to pull April’s body close, burying his face into her silky hair. One last thought came him as oblivion took him.

_I’m so sorry April, I love you._

Raphael jerked awake, sweating, and panting heavily. He pressed his face into his hands, trying to ease the pounding in his chest.

A noise caused him to look up, and April stood at the doorway. For the briefest moment she seemed to have a nasty smile on her face, but it was gone so quickly he attributed it to the nightmare he just had. 

“Are you okay?” she asked gently, moving into the room. Sitting down on the bed next to him, she wrapped an arm around him.

Raph pulled her into his arms, giving her a gentle squeeze and rested his head on her shoulder.

“Yah,” he said softly. “Just a nightmare.” She leaned her head against his, and he felt her nod.

“You too?” she said, adjusting herself to sit in his lap. She turned her head to brush her lips to his cheek and kissed him softly. He tightened his arms around her, breathing her scent deeply in.

“Want to stay for the night?” He asked, motioning to his side of the bed. She smiled up at him, and he flushed as he saw heat come into her eyes.

“Yes,” She whispered hoarsely. “But I think I could use some help getting to sleep first.” She took his lips with hers and Raphael closed his eyes, allowing himself to drift away with the feeling of her.

 --------------------------------------------------------

Donatello rubbed his temples as he sat at the kitchen table, a bottle of vodka in front of him. He normally didn’t drink. He hated how it messed with his cognitive abilities, but tonight he needed to drown the images of the videos he had seen.

Earlier that day April had helped him hack into where all the secret file of what had been Sachs Industries were stored. He had spent hours going through them, but had only been halfway through when he found the videos. Those goddamned videos. There wasn’t enough alcohol on the earth to burn away the images he had seen.

He flinched as he could hear her screaming in his mind, her blood pooled on the floor, and he took another swig of the bottle. Leo was going to kill him tomorrow if the hangover didn’t but Donatello could care less at the moment. He just needed to wash away those images.

“Donnie?” He turned to the voice coming from the doorway. Michelangelo stood there, his bright blue eyes filled with concern. “You okay bro?” Donnie rubbed his face, and shook his head indicating the negative.  His baby brother sat down in the chair beside him, and put a hand on his shoulder. “What’s wrong? Something happen?”

Donnie took a deep breath and shut his eyes. Starting by telling the brother least likely to go insane when he told them what had happened to her might be for the best. Also, despite the youngest turtle’s goofiness, he also tended to be the more sensitive, after Donatello himself. Talking to Mikey might help the strange mixture of pain, anger, and guilt that was trying to consume Don.

“I found some videos of April.” He started, swallowing hard. His brother swore softly beside him. “It was bad, real bad. What they did to her, I really can’t believe she’s still alive.” He stopped, biting his lip to try and stop from crying. Mikey moved closer, moving his arm around Donnie’s shoulders.

“Come on, Don, it’s okay. Just tell me what happened.” The orange turtle encouraged, looking his brother in the eyes. Donnie nodded and pressed on.

“At first it was just the usual. Trying to get her to tell them where we went. They beat her around, but she refused to talk. Then they got worse. Some of the lab assistants and Foot Soldiers started using her for…” Don paused to think about how to put it. “Their own _entertainment_.” He finished, unable to look in in the younger turtle’s eyes. He could feel a darkness that he more associated with Raphael coming off his younger brother. The purple turtle took a deep breath and pressed on.

“The worse was this one were they held a handgun to her head. Told her they would shoot her if she didn’t tell them where we were. She didn’t even _blink_ at the threat. Told them to just do it because Hell would freeze over before she told them anything.” He paused to choke back a sob that had formed in the back of his throat. “There she was, beaten half to death, violated on multiple occasions, and they were threatening to kill her, and she didn’t say a word. Didn’t even tell them we had _left_ her to be captured by them. The guy began to beat her with the handgrip, until the _Shredder_ had to intervene to stop him.”

“Jesus fucking Christ.” Mikey said, looking ill. Don took another drink from the bottle, and passed it to Mikey, who took a good-sized drink from the bottle.

“I did find out what they used to brainwash her though, so that was good.” Donatello added. “They used nanites to block some parts of her brain. They also added false memories into that section, which is why she fights like she’s been trained for longer than us, versus the five years she was gone.”

“You think you can fix her?” The youngest asked, looking hopeful.

“Well, with how she is around Raph, I would say I could try to get some of her memories back.” Donatello replied. “It’s going to take some time, but I have a sample of the nanites they used from the blood sample I took earlier, so I can start by studying them.” Mikey beamed at him, happy to hear at least a little bit of good news.

“That’s great Donnie! I know you can figure something out, you always do!” He said happily, but then frowned. “You going to tell Raph and Leo about this?” Donatello looked at the vodka bottle and wondered briefly if there was enough left for those two conversations. Well- one at least. He was sure that April would tell Raph what had happened to her, which left Leonardo. And with the way the eldest had been acting that day, Donatello wasn’t going looking forward to telling the leader what had happened.

“You know what sucks the most?” Donatello was shaken from his thoughts at the sound of his brother’s voice. “It’s our fault it happened. We just left her, when we knew that they already where paying attention to her due to her connection with Sachs’ arrest. It’s not like they would forget she put him in jail.” Mikey took his arm from around Donnie’s shoulder, and buried his face in his hands.

“I remember seeing her on the news before we met up with her, and she always looked so sad, like she had no one in this world to care for or care for her. Then after the thing at Sachs’ Tower she looked so much happier. When her and Raph started their relationship…” He paused and a slightly yearning look came to his face. “She just glowed, she was so happy. She had someone who loved her so much, and a group of people that she could call her family, and then…we just took it away from her, without even asking what she wanted. And look where that got her.” He huffed angrily. “She was tortured, raped, nearly killed, and had her memories wiped just to keep us safe.” This time it was Donatello who put his hand on Michelangelo’s shoulder.

“Come on, Mikey we should be heading to bed.” Don looked at the clock and winced. It was almost one in the morning. Between that and the alcohol, training was going to be rough in the morning. The youngest nodded and headed to his room, leaving Don to put away the vodka.                        

As he headed to his own room, he passed by Raph’s. The door was slightly ajar and he could see Raph sprawled out on his bed, with April laying on his shoulder. The various clothing items scattered across the room told the story of what they had been doing, and Donnie had to smile. Maybe getting April to remember her relationship with Raph was the keystone to getting the rest of her true memories back. Yawning, he continued on to his room, hoping for at least a


	10. Betrayal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things between Raph and Leo get heated and a bitter betrayal.

The leader of the Hamato clan frowned at the empty vodka bottle in front of him. The past week had been a nightmare for him. He knew Raph and April were having sex every night. He could smell it on them in the mornings when they came in for training in the morning. He heard them at night, April’s soft, whispery moans of pleasure mixed with his brother’s low possessive growls. It was driving the leader mad that April didn’t even seem to consider him. Leonardo checked the bottle again to make sure it was empty. He had never consumed that much in a short period of time, but if Raph could do it, so could he.

Leo growled as he heard laughter from the other room. April and Raphael were in there with Mikey and Donnie, watching some TV show she had fallen behind in her captivity. He shut his eyes as images of those two curled next to each other, April practically in his younger brother’s lap. She would look up and give him that brilliant smile of hers, one the red turtle sure as hell didn’t deserve. He could see her leaning up and curling her soft mouth around Raphael’s and he pulled her closer. The blue turtle growled as something inside him broke.

“Raphael.” Leonardo snapped, storming into the living area of the lair. “Dojo. _Now.”_ And with that, he turned on his heel and stormed to the Dojo, leaving all the others stunned.

“What was that about?” Mikey asked, looking at Raph with a confused look.

“I donno.” Raph said with a shrug of his massive shoulders. He stood up and turned to help April up. “C’mon Babe, let’s go see what Fearless wants.” The woman smiled and stood up on her toes to kiss him on the cheek.

“You go on ahead, I got to get something from my room.” She told him. Raph gave her a kiss of his own, and ruffled her hair.

“Alright _Mendokuse_.” He told her. “You’ll be there in time for me to kick Leo’s butt, though, right?” He gave her that same, wide, easy grin that made her heart leap and April smiled back at him.

“Of course, Big Guy, wouldn’t miss it for the world.” April replied, turning to go to her room. Once she knew that the other three where gone, her smile turned to something more sinister. April moved down to her room, and pulled the box her foot uniform was in from under her bed. Grabbing a boot, she pulled at the low heel, reveling a small computer chip nestled inside. While Donatello’s little detection device had looked for any active tracking signals, the little chip didn’t send any out until she activated it. 

Pressing a small button on the chip, she smiled as a red light began to flicker on and off. Placing the heel back on the boot, she tossed it back in the box and shoved the box back under her bed. She stood up and stretched, shaking her head. A small headache had started to form at her temples, but she attributed that to the fact that she had yet to have her afternoon coffee. Looking around, she sighed in relief knowing that it would all be over soon. It would take about an hour for the team that would be sent to retrieve her to arrive. Now all she had to do was wait, and she’d be back to being Erin, back to training with Master Shredder, back to her old life and away from this place and _them_. Walking out of the room, she grabbed a cleaning kit for her weapon and headed to the Dojo.

She paused at the door to Raphael’s room, and she felt a tiny twinge in her heart. She was going to miss the big turtle, she had to admit. He had been an amazing lover and had treated her as a friend and equal in a way no one else had. Shaking the thoughts from her head, she continued on her way, confused at the guilty feeling in her chest.

Meanwhile, the brothers where in the training room, Mikey and Donnie standing off side of the sparring mat, watching the two elder brothers.

“Do ya' really wanna' do this Leo?” Raph asked as he entered the ring. April walked in as he was talking, and joined the younger turtles on the sidelines to watch the fight. Raph saw her flash him a smiled out of the corner of his eye and he had to suppress the desire to return it, focus on the older brother in front of him. Leo, standing on the other side of the ring remained silent, with weapons already drawn, and keeping a thousand meter stare on Raph. “You just gonna' look at me or what? I thought ya' wanted to fight, so here I-”

 

As Raph was mid-sentence, Leo rushed the red turtle. He started off with a couple of downward slashes, which Raph easily dodged and answered with a pair of sidekicks to the torso and shell, and followed it up with a Superman punch that sent Leo tumbling to a corner.

 

“Funny, I thought we were supposed ta' have our weapons drawn before we started... but since we're just standin' here, I'll do so.” Raph quipped to the blue turtle as he was standing up. The red turtle calmly pulled out his sais and got into his ready stance. “Whenever yer' ready, buttercup!” Leo rushed again, this time with a left backhand slice, followed with a lunging stab with his right katana. The stab was immediately parried by Raph, and Leo decided to use the momentum to deliver a crescent kick with his left, causing the uncharacteristically calm red turtle to side block it, and answer with a thrust kick that would make King Leonidas jealous. Leo tumbled to the other side of the ring again. This time Leo kipped up, turned towards Raph, and let loose a very primal roar.

 

“Rawr” The red turtle mocked, raising both hands up as child would to imitate a beast but then he noticed a peculiar smell, as did the rest of the turtles: alcohol.

 

“Is that the vodka?” Donatello asked, also confused by the smell, as well as his leader's actions.

 

“Hey bro, something ain't right about this.” Mikey said to Don, but Mikey did not grasp the severity of the situation until he caught a good look at Leo's eyes: murderous intent. The look alone sent shivers down his shell. “No, no, no, no, no! Donny, we gotta' stop this- Leo's gone off his fucking rocker!”

 

“Stand down, Mikey. Raph's got this.” Upon hearing the purple turtle's confident response, Mikey sat down and crossed his arms. “He damn well better. . .” said the orange turtle, with a distinct sound of concern in his voice.

 

“Leo, you been drinking' bro?” The red turtle asked, his gold eyes wide in surprise. The only time Leo drank was when he was paying his respects to the departed Master Splinter, and even then it would only be a small cup of Sake.

 

“SHUT THE FUCK UP! I WANT APRIL! SHE BELONGS TO ME! I AM THE ALPHA HERE!!!” Snarled Leo as he again rushed his brother again with multiple lunging stabs, with all of them missing their mark and the last one being parried and Raph bringing his left elbow to his older brother's jaw in retaliation. April could only watch the altercation in a combination of awe and something else. She felt her face flush as heat spread through her and she bit her lip. Something about the fight was primaly arousing to watch, seeing Raph fight for her affections. Her head began to throb painfully and she rubbed her temples, trying to ease the tension. She forced herself to focus back on the fight, as Raph grabbed Leo by the top of torso carapace and brought his right knee to the blue turtle's stomach, causing the elder brother to drop his swords, get on all fours, and vomit.

 

“That's going to be a nightmare to clean up.” Muttered Donatello as he went to help his inebriated older brother up, with Michelangelo assisting him. The two hoisted Leonardo up, as the older brother snarled at them and attempted to shake them off. Raphael put his sais up and looked at the purple brother.

 

“You take care of the drunk, I’ll clean this up.” He told Donnie, keeping his distance from Leo for the moment. Donatello nodded in agreement.

 

“Come on Leo,” Mikey said as the older brother tried to fight them. “We need to get you cleaned up and into bed. You’ll have a helluva’ hangover later.” With that, they dragged him from the room, leaving April and Raph alone, the red turtle frowning at the retreating figures of his brothers.

 

“What was that about?” April asked, looking confused. Raphael sighed and rubbed his head.

“The thing between you and me has always been kinda touchy for Leo.” He admitted. “With you being the only female we’ve ever come in contact with, things can get a little- tense between us.” April took this in for a minute, going over his words.

“So it’s an Alpha/Beta thing?” She asked as Raph went into a closet that was at one end of the dojo and pulled out some cleaning supplies. “Why doesn’t it effect Donatello or Michelangelo?”

“Kinda.” Raph replied, as he filled a mop bucket up with water. “The reason it doesn’t affect the other guys is that they’re both Gammas, and are happy with that role. Leo and I are Alphas, although when Master Splinter was here, he leaned more towards Beta. That’s why he never acted on his feelings for you. He knew that Master Splinter would be upset that he was acting out.” Raph pulled the bucket over to the mess on the mat and began to mop it up. He frowned when he saw her flinch, and rub her temples. “You okay?” He asked her, concerned.

“Just a mild headache.” She said. “I think I’ll go lay down for a bit.” Raph smiled at her, nodding.

“Okay.” He told her, continuing his work. “Just yell if you need anything, alright?” April smiled back at him, nodding.

“Thank you.” She said, as she walked out the door. That feeling of guilt came back to her as she made her way down the hall, back to her room. She passed Donnie and Mikey, who were putting Leo into bed. Her heart twisted oddly at the sight, seeing the capable leader so incapacitated. She walked into her room, and flopped down on the bed. Checking the time on the clock next to her bed, she knew it wouldn’t be much more time before the foot came to liberate her from her mission. A nauseous feeling came to her stomach thinking about the betrayed look on the faces of the turtles, and her head pounded harder.

Suddenly she sat up, forcing the thoughts from her head. Moving off the bed, she pulled the box from under her bed, and grabbed her uniform. Putting it on, she reminded herself that they were the enemy. They killed her father, placed the blame on Sachs, and tried to kill her Master. She shouldn’t be having second thoughts on it. But even as she forced the thoughts from her head, she kept on seeing them, sitting around her in a room she didn’t recognize, with an aged rat sitting in a chair nearby. The picture was so strangely familiar, but so very different from her other memories.

She had just finished pulling on her gloves when an explosion rocked the lair. She heard shouting from the guys and the clash on metal. Erin stood up to join the fight, but dizziness over took her and she had to sit down again.

“April!” A cry came from down the hall and she forced herself up and out of the room. April’s heart raced as she moved down the hall, confusion wracking her mind. A Foot Soldier came up to Erin, bowing low to her.

“It’s good to have you back Erin- _Taicho_ ” The masked soldier said, leading her to the living area of the lair.

 April felt sick as she saw the four brothers all tied up, hate and betrayal in their eyes as they looked at her. Raph’s head was down, not looking at anything, but his massive body was shaking in shock and heartbreak.

Erin smiled darkly at them and turned to the person who had moved up behind her.

“And you made it sound like it was so hard to do this.” Erin purred as the rival Kunoichi glared at her. “Now let’s get these things back to Master Shredder.” Karai lead the way as the Foot Soldiers pushed the turtles out the door, dragging Leo out first, and Donatello in the rear.

As the soldiers leading the intellectual turtle passed, there was a shout from those who were taking Michelangelo as he tried to fight them off. The soldiers left Donnie to go help up front, and he heard a soft voice from beside him

“Donnie?” He turned to see April looking at him, confusion in her eyes. “Where are we?” He felt his heart sink as she gave a small gasp of pain, and clutched her head. When she looked back, it was Erin’s cold blue eyes that met his.

“What are you looking at?” She snarled, and pushed him forward. “Let’s go.” He allowed her to push him forward, into the sewer, fighting the sick feeling in his heart, knowing that her downward spiral into madness would only get worse from there.


	11. Slipping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A confrontation between Leo and Erin as she slowly looses control.

Mikey looked at out of the tube into the laboratory. They were captured- again, but the circumstances were far worse than the last time. The youngest turtle bit back a growl as the reason they captured walked in the room, but then frowned. Something was wrong with her eyes. They seemed to flash between a hardness to confusion to fear and back.

Finally, a small group of foot soldiers, led by Karai, walked into the room.

“It took you long enough.” Erin snarled at the other woman. Karai bristled at her tone, her hand going to her wakizashi. Erin ignored the move and waved her hand to the captive turtles. “You and your men bring the beasts into to dojo. I’ll be waiting for them there.” The red head moved to storm out of the room when another look of confusion crossed her face, and she stopped.

“Erin- _Taicho,_ is everything okay?” A nearby soldier asked, concern on his unmasked face. The foot captain shook her head, as if to clear it, and turned to the soldier. “Yes, thank you for asking. I was just deciding what one to fight first.” She looked them over, her eyes settling on the leader who was just recovering from his hangover.

“I’ll take him first, shackle the rest to the side wall.” She commanded them group, then swept from the room.

The turtles were shackled together, and taken down a few floors into an open room, with a set of shackles hanging from a wall on one end. Erin stood in the center, stretching out. Even with his current burning hatred for her, Leo had to admire the lithe, almost feline way her body moved. She straightened up when they came into the room, and pointed to the place in front of her.

“Put the drunk here, the others go to the wall.” Erin commanded, and the soldiers moved to follow her orders, Karai pulling Leonardo up to where Erin had pointed.

“Will you be okay on your own, or will you end up fucking the red one?” Karai said darkly, handing April the key to Leo’s handcuffs. Erin smirked at the other kunoichi, her eyes gleaming.

“Jealous that one actually wanted me without force?” Erin asked. “I know you cry this one’s name while you pet your kitty.” She finished, jerking her head to the blue brother, who turned bright red. Karai turned the same color and growled, but said nothing as she turned and left the room. Then Michelangelo’s voice filled the room.

“She has a cat?” The youngest turtle asked, genuine interest in his eyes, despite the situation. Amusement flashed in Erin’s eyes momentarily, before she turned back to Leo, and unlocked his cuffs, then stepped back to her spot.

Donatello watched as Erin picked up Leo’s kantanas and handed them to him. The blue turtle took them and put them on his back.

“Go easy on her Leo.” Don cautioned as Erin warmed up.

“Why” The leader snapped, every inch of his body tense.

“Because she’s losing it!” The younger turtle exclaimed as his older brother began to walk away. Leo paused and looked over his shoulder, his eyes cold.

“And why should I care?” He snarled, and continued to move towards Erin.

“Because underneath it all, April is still there, and I don’t want your last memory of her being _April_ and asking why you hurt her” Donatello finished to his brother’s retreating back.

“What do ya mean?” Donatello turned to Raph, who had spoken for the first time since their capture, and swallowed hard.

“The Nanites that they gave her to replace her memories are starting to turn on her. The April we know is still there and is starting to resurface, but Erin is still fighting it. Eventually the stress of the two personalities fighting to gain dominance in her head will cause a massive breakdown. Ether she’ll attack someone in a fit of madness and they’ll have to kill her, or she’ll commit suicide. That is if they don’t have the backup plan that if she gains her memories back, the nanites flat kill her.” The purple turtle stated, and he heard his older brother sharply draw in a breath. They all turned their focus to Leo, who stood in front of Erin, his blue eyes dark with hatred for her.

Leo glared at the woman before him, as she gave him a low bow before the fight. He bared his teeth at her, refusing to return it, even though it was a proper one for the situation. He unsheathed his kantanas and moved into an offensive position.

“I’m going to kill you for betraying my family, you bitch.” Leo growled low, the blades of his weapons gleaming low light. Erin looked confused for a moment, like she didn’t know where she was, but focused back on Leo with a cold smile.

“You’re the one who’s going to die, monster.” She returned coolly, playing with the scythe of her weapon. Leonardo snarled in return,

 

Leo, full of rage, charged forward in an attempt to shoulder tackle the kunoichi that stood before him, in an attempt to slam into her hard enough to stun her and then eliminate this. . . traitor, with a following blow. That was his first mistake. His second mistake was attacking in anger, which was something that Splinter had been keen in teaching his students/children NOT to do. _“Rage is only a weapon unto one self. A blade drawn in anger is as good as dull, rusted one.”_ The wise, old rat would say to them.

 

Erin saw the shoulder tackle coming from the uncharacteristically brutish and rageful dual katana wielding turtle. She quickly side stepped to the right and answered his attempt with a right cross to the face, and a left hook to the body. This only seemed to serve to further anger the turtle in blue, as he quickly answered with a left elbow smash, and followed it up with a right cross of his own, which sent the woman spinning through the air. As she was about to land, Leo came with a downward slash, which the female shinobi managed to block mid-spin with the kusarigama out of reflex. Leo attempted to stab Erin where she lay, but she quickly rolled left, barely dodging the lethal blow. As she rolled out of the way, she threw ball of her chain to the blue turtle's face, catching him where his nose would be, and causing him to shuffle back a bit- enough to give her time to make space between her and her adversary.

 

Erin rolled back onto her feet and readied her weapon, ready to take advantage of her foe as he was stunned. As she dashed forward, she saw something out of the corner of her eye: another woman reaching out, as if trying to plead with her to stop. Though she heard no sound from the pleading woman, she would quickly deal with this uninvited guest by throwing the chain ball at her throat . . . only to hit, and shatter a nearby training dummy that sat on the edge of the room. Confused, Erin paused to wonder what she had just seen, but had to duck quickly, as her foe had come to.

 

“I'm right here, bitch!” Leo had yelled after trying to decapitate the recently distracted Erin. She dodged the strike, but left herself open to a side thrust kick that sent her tumbling back and onto the area she had just been looking at. “If you want to stand there and get distracted while fighting me, that's okay. I would normally have an issue cutting down a distracted rival, but I'll make an exception for you.” Leo said, as he began to stalk towards her, like a predator closing in for the kill. Erin chuckled, and grinned at Leo.

 

“My, my, lookit the balls on Yoshi's bitch.” She said as she was slowly starting to stand up. This, of course, threw Leo a bit off. “Did you suck on the rat's dick long enough to grow your own? I mean, from what I know about you, that old codger couldn't even whip out his cock out to piss without you being there to hold it for him.” Leo's eyes began to twitch as he heard the kunoichi's words.

 

“W-what did you just fucking say?!”

 

“What? Did you suddenly become deaf? Here, let me spell it out for you big blue bitch: You. Rode. Hamato Yoshi's. Diiiiick.” Erin said as she was mockingly making sign language gestures towards Leo.

 

“Damn. That was pretty low.” Mikey said to himself.

 

“Ya' don't say. . .” Replied Raph. Leo screamed in rage, and lunged forward at Erin, attempting to skewer her, but his target had long stepped aside.

 

“What's the matter, 'Alpha'? Did you think you were 'man' enough to hang?” Leo threw a blind back slash in the direction of mocking woman's voice. He started to look around for her, not trusting his senses, but Erin had moved in behind.

 

“Leo! Look out!!!” All three brothers said in near unison.

 

The elder turtle quickly threw a back kick, but it was quickly parried by the femme fatale. He tried to use the momentum of the parry to do another left backhand slash, but she had deftly wrapped her chain around his arm. Leo cried out in pain as she dug the blade into his arm and cut a deep gash from his elbow to near his wrist.

 

Pulling out the blade, she went to move behind him when she suddenly cried out in pain and clutched her head. Stumbling backwards, she collapsed onto her hands and knees, breathing heavily. Leo tried to get to his feet, clinging to his injured arm, as Erin looked up.

 

The darkness was gone, replaced by fear and confusion. She looked around franticly, like she didn’t know where she was. Finally her eyes settled on Leo and they lit up. She scrambled to her feet and bolted towards him, and before he could stop her, her arms wrapped around him in a tight hug.

 

“I knew you guys would come for me!” She exclaimed, releasing him enough to pull back and look at him. “They kept telling me you abandoned me, but I knew you wouldn’t, I knew you’d-” She stopped and looked down at his arm and her blue eyes went wide. “Oh, god, what happened to your arm?” She moved away from him to look at his arm. Biting her lip, the woman looked back up at him.

 

“April?” Leo managed to say, his blue eyes on hers. “When did we defeat Sachs?” April looked up from examining his wound and frowned.

 

“Two years ago, why?” She asked, as her hands moved down and grabbed the shirt of her uniform. Leo’s felt sick as confusion came to her face and she looked down at the uniform she had on. Her bright eyes met his. “Leo, why am I wearing this?” She asked, her hands starting to shake. Looking around, she saw the bloodied weapon she had dropped and her eyes moved back to his wound. “I did this to you, didn’t I?” She asked, her voice barely audible.

 

“April, it’s okay, it’s not your fault...” Leo began, but she cut him off.

 

“You were right.” She muttered, almost to herself. “I am a danger to you.” Her entire body was trembling by that time, and she noticed the others against the wall, in chains. Horror registered across her face. “I got you all captured.” She began to hyperventilate, shutting hey eyes and burying her head in her hands. “No, please no, let this be a bad dream, a nightmare, don’t let this be real…” Suddenly she cried out in pain and collapsed to the floor. Leo stood and moved back towards his brothers, unsure if Erin would be the one facing him again when the episode ended.

After what seemed like an eternity, she opened her eyes again and looked around, her sight set on Leo. She looked over at him and behind at his brother, frowning. Moving slowly, the woman reached for his weapon and grabbed it. Sliding into a defensive position, she finally spoke.

“Do I know you?” Her voice echoed in the empty lab, and they all froze. It was Raph that found his voice first.

“Yah, ya know us.” He told her, his voice soft. “We’re your family. You are very important to us.” Her eyes met his and she studied them for a few seconds. Then she gave a curt nod and walked up to the three chained turtles, studying the shackles. Pulling two long pieces of metal from her boot, she unlocked them, finishing with Raph. The biggest turtle rubbed his wrists, looking down at the woman who was studying him intently.

“You- You’re something different than the rest of them to me, aren’t you?” She asked softly. He met her eyes, and he nodded. Her eyes went sad and she covered one of his large hands with hers. “I’m sorry I don’t remember.” She whispered. “I can feel that you are very dear to me, but I can’t even remember your name.”

“We-” Raph began, but the doors opened and a foot soldier walked into the room.

“Erin- _Taicho,_ I apologize for the interruption, but Master Shredder has asked me-” The soldier froze when he caught sight of the loose turtles. He turned to run out of the room, but stopped as the blade of April’s weapon dug into his back. The turtles turned to her, stunned. Her face was pale, but her eyes with a dark hatred.

“He hurt me.” She whispered. “He deserves it. They all do.” She moved up to the man who withered in pain on the floor and pulled the blade from him. Pressing the weapon to his throat, she moved it quickly across to flesh, blood spurting from cut. She stepped away from him, and moved to the door as the man twitched a few times before finally going still. “Grab your weapons and let’s move.” She commanded to the horrified turtles.

“Don?” Raphael asked, his voice low so April couldn’t hear as she left the room. “Does this mean that April, my April, our April, is gone?” The purple turtle leaned down to gather his Bo as they heard shouts from the two guards outside the door, then looked up to see blood trickling into the room.

“I’m sorry Raph.” He answered softly, and felt his heart twist as his older brother’s face fell. “But I believe the April we know and love is truly gone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very sorry. College after ten years sucks. I'm struggling with math and wanted to strangle half the kids in my English class. How do you not know who ISIS is? How can you laugh at a picture of bunch of cops during the Boston Marathon Bombing?


	12. Pain and Hope

April tore through the building, leaving a bloody mess in her wake. It was almost if she had a specific person she was trying to find, a goal in mind.

“Where’s she going?” Mikey huffed as they followed behind, taking care of any loose foot soldiers who might be remaining.  April had already disappeared from their sight as they stopped to take care of a number of soldiers that had come out of a barracks room.

“She’s going after people who hurt her. In her state of mind right now, that would be anyone that wears the foot uniform and those who are in charge.” Donatello stated, as he used his Bo to knock an attacker unconscious.

“So that means she’s lookin’ for Karai and the Shredder.” Raph growled, kicking another foot square in the chest, knocking her across the room.

“So she’s going to head to the top floor then.” Leo concluded, slamming the butt of a katana into the temple of his opponent.

Clearing out the rest of the foot, they found the nearest elevator and piled into it. They were silent as the ascended up the shaft, all focused on what could be waiting for them at the top.

The door of the elevator opened to reveal what looked like a front office, the secretary’s desk empty. Next to it, two huge double doors were closed, and an attempt by Leo to open them revealed them to be locked. Donnie studied the door for a bit and then nodded his head.

“They’ll open if they’re hit hard enough.” He stated, and turned to the turtle in red who radiated a nervous energy. “Would you like to do the honors?”

Raph nodded, and took a few steps back to get the momentum he needed.  His brothers stepped away and he ran up, slamming all of his weight against the door and it burst open, with the others following him into the room. April stood at the other end, her body tense and ready to attack the man standing before her.

“Sachs.” Leo growled, his hands tightening around the hilt of his weapons.

“Looks like the nanites finally backfired on them.” Eric said darkly, his eyes glowing with hate. “I warned them that would happen, but they didn’t listen.”

“Where is the Shredder and Karai?” She snarled, her blue eyes gleaming murderously. Eric moved back pinned to the wall.

“They left for Japan.” He told her. “Too bad they didn’t get to see their little pet finally lose it.” April moved up closer to him.

“You killed my father. You took away the only member of my family that cared for me.” April moved up to the now-trembling man, pressing her weapon to the soft flesh of his throat. “Now I’m going to kill you.”

“No!” Raph yelled, his voice filled with panic. She turned to him.

“No? Why shouldn’t I? He took my father from me!” April yelled, tightening her grip on her weapon. Raph slipped his weapons into their sheaths.                                              

“Because you’re better than that April.” He said gently. “Come on, just leave him for the cops, it’ll be okay I promise.” She looked from Raph to Sachs and back to Raph.

“Why do you say I wouldn’t do this?” She asked him, blue eyes flashing.

“Because you believe that no matter how obviously guilty a person is, he deserves a trial, just like everyone else, that just killing him will make you no better than him.” He answered her.  “Come on, you have to remember.” The woman in front of him turned to face him fully.

“I don’t remember, I-” She gasped, dropping her weapon, and clutched her head. When she looked up, her eyes met his and she smiled. “Raph!” She cried, and moved to him, but Sachs pulled something from inside his jacket and a gunshot filled the air.

April’s eyes went wide, and she looked down at the wet spot staining her uniform. Looking back up at him, she reached out as she collapsed to the ground.

“Raph…”

He got to her before she hit the ground, and eased her down.

“You sonofabitch!” Raph looked up to see that same dark look in Michelangelo’s eyes that had been there the night they broke up that sex slave ring.

With the lightning reflexes, the youngest had the man up by his collar against the wall. He looked over his shoulder to Donatello, who was now kneeling next to Raphael, checking on April.

“Is she going to be okay?” He asked, as Eric tried to squirm out of the turtle’s grasp. The purple-clad turtle looked up and sadly shook his head. Michelangelo turned his head to Leonardo, who stepped up to address the human.

“You have harmed a member of our clan who had just shown mercy to you. Because of this, you are now will face our judgement. Taking in that this is not the first time you have attempted to harm or have harmed our clan, we can no longer allow you to fall into the hands of the human authorities.” The leader looked Eric straight in the eye as he delivered his sentence. “Your life is now forfeit to us.” He moved to draw his kantana from its sheath, but Michelangelo was quicker, and there was a sickening _crunch_ as he cracked the entrepreneur’s head open with his nunchaku.

Letting the dead man drop to the ground, Michelangelo, walked with Leonardo back over to April, as Donatello made an attempt to stop the bleeding.

“I did something bad, didn’t I?” she asked weakly. “I can feel I’ve done bad things, but I can’t remember what.”

“You didn’t babe, the other person did. That person that the Shedder made from you. It wasn’t you at all.” He shut his eyes, trying to steady himself. He clenched his teeth, remembering how April had screamed as the Shredder had tortured her. It wasn’t her fault she was like this. She had been forced into it.

“I’m sorry.” He choked, tears in his eyes. “I’m so sorry, I should have protected you better.” He pulled her closer against his chest, as he fought back tears. He felt her small hands wrap around his head, and she leaned up to press her forehead against his.  He heard her whimper in pain when he held on to her tighter.

“It’s okay.” She said, her voice soft. “I understand.” Tipping her head up to his, she kissed him softly. He leaned into it, trying to show her that he didn’t blame her, that he loved her more than anything else he could ever care for. She pulled away, looking him in the eyes. Giving him a sad smile, she stroked his cheek with a shaking hand. He took it in his own, and gave it a gentle squeeze.

 “I love you so much, Raphael. You gave me so much happiness, I can’t even begin to tell you.” She gave him one of her bright, loving smiles, but her eyes were sad. “I need you to do something for me.” Confusion came to Raph’s face.

“What’s that babe?” he asked, trying, and failing, to smile back. She pressed her other hand to his face, and pressed her face back against his.

“I need you to find hope. Please find hope for me.” She whispered softly, her breathing becoming more ragged. Raphael looked up to Donnie to see if the more intelligent turtle knew what she meant. His brother could only shrug at the woman’s cryptic message. Raph turned back to April, and squeezed her hand.

“I’ll do it April, don’t worry.” He assured her, a wavy smile coming to his face. She returned it, and looked up to his brothers hovering around him and began to speak again.

“Thank you so very much.” She took another shaky breath. “You guys are the closest thing I have had to a family since Dad died.” She managed a small smile. “I always wanted little brothers. I was so lonely as an only child.”

 There was a small laugh as she looked from Leonardo’s face, who was trying to hide his panic and fear from his younger brothers, to Donatello’s quiet, accepting one, and finally to Michelangelo’s face of despair, tears in his bright blue eyes.

“You guys aren’t exactly ‘little’, but that’s okay.” She tensed in pain, gasping for air. “Take care of each other, family is so very important. Nothing hurts like losing your family.” She shut her eyes briefly, trying to cling to life as long as she could. Opening them again, her eyes met Raphael’s for one last time. “I love you so much. I can’t ever thank you enough for loving me.”

Raph fought back tears and gently stroked her cheek, wiping away her tears.

“I love you too, April, more than anything else.” He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to hers. “I will never stop loving you.” April fought for one last breath, her hand going to cup his face.

“Goodbye.” She pressed her lips against his one last time, and she went limp, hand sliding from his face.  A sob ripped from Raphael’s throat as he buried his face into her chest. A gentle hand pressed against his shoulder. He looked up at Leo, not caring if his older brother saw his tears.

Leo kneeled next to the grieving turtle, looking him straight in the eye.

“Raph, we need to get moving, okay?” Raph nodded stiffly and gently laid his lover’s body to the floor and moved away, but stopped when he noticed a silver chain coming out of her top.

Kneeing back down next to her, Raphael gently pulled the chain from out of her shirt. Amazement came into his gold eyes, and he slid his hands around the back of her neck to take the chain off.

“Let’s go.” He said, clinging to the necklace in his hand. The others nodded and followed Donnie as he led the way to the roof of the building. Outside, winter clung to its hold on the weather, and a light snow was falling around them.

They didn’t stop running until they were several blocks away, and in another abandoned building they used to hide out when they needed it.

A quick check revealed that they were all okay for the most part, but the turtles knew they would have to move again after resting for a bit. The chaos that had happened that night would hopefully keep the rest of the Foot busy enough for them to get their things and leave, but they would have to be quick.

Then there would be time to mourn the one they lost.

Leonardo looked around at his brothers from his perch on an old shipping box.

“I’m sorry.” He said softly to them. This caught the attention of the other three, and they all turned to him. “I-I let my desires to get ahold of me. I should have been in more control.” Raphael shook his head.

“Erin- that other woman- She’s to blame Leo, not you. She’s the one that contacted the foot to where we were. I should have tried harder to get her to remember me, maybe then-” Then Donatello interrupted.

“If I had found a counter to the nanites earlier, I could have cured her, it’s my fault.” The purple turtle said, and behind him, Michelangelo’s face twisted into a frown. Standing suddenly, his older brothers faced him as he began to speak.

“It doesn’t matter whose fault it is! She’s gone, really gone, and there’s nothing we can do to bring her back!” He yelled, glaring at his brothers. His face then softened as he continued. “She wouldn’t want us doing this. She’d want us to move on, to continue to live. That’s why she never told them where they could find us.” He paused and swallowed hard. “Can’t we do that, for her?”

The others looked at their brother, as they let his words sink in. Finally it was Raphael who spoke.

“He’s right.” He said, his voice gruff as tears threatened to fall. “She sacrificed herself for us, and we need to honor what she did for us.” He felt Mikey wrap an arm around his shoulders, and for the first time in many years, the larger turtle accepted his younger brother’s embrace.  

Later, Raph was perched on the rooftop of the building they had settled into for the night.  The necklace that he had taken from April gleamed in little light that made it up there. It was a simple silver chain that had three small charms hanging form it. A small turtle, the Japanese kanji for _family_ and a microphone, all were meant to mean something to his beloved reporter, and she had never taken the necklace off after he had given it to her for her birthday.

Tipping his head to the sky, he felt the soft flakes hit his skin as he mulled over her parting plea. Standing up, he took a deep breath in, and let it out.

“I’ll find hope April, whatever you meant by that, I’ll find it.” He whispered to the sky as he went down into the building to join his brothers.

Epilogue

Things slowly moved back to something that the turtles could call ‘normal’ after that. With the huge amount of abandoned subway stations under the streets of New York, it wasn’t hard to find a new home to settle into, and with the rest of the foot busy elsewhere, they moved with relative ease into a new place.

The building they had been in ‘mysteriously’ exploded not long after they had escaped it, but the rescue workers found April’s body among the wreckage. Vern had tracked them down to give them the information for her funeral, and on a warm day in early May, her ashes were scattered at the farmhouse she had lived in as a teenager. The brothers attended, hiding in the new green of the trees. Afterwards, the cameraman gave them a small portion of the ashes for their own shrine set up next to Splinter’s.

Two months after April’s funeral, Donatello called Raphael into his lab. The younger turtle seemed excited and nervous at the same time, his hands shaking as he motioned the larger turtle to sit.

“I found out what she meant.” He said to his older brother, pushing his glasses up his face. “What April meant about finding hope? I found out what she meant.” Raphael frowned at the turtle sitting across from him.

“What do ya mean?” He asked, gold eyes searching his brother’s green ones.

“April wasn’t talking about hope as in the emotion, she was talking about a person.” Donatello explained, turning to his computer and bringing up something that looked like a medical report. “Look at the date on this birth document I found in the files of what was left of Sach’s corporation.” Raph moved his chair near Don, and looked over at the monitor.  “Look at the name. She was born seven months after April disappeared.” Raph looked at the form, and skimming it over. The mother had died during childbirth and was taken in by one of the nurses that had taken care of her.

“Hope Jones. Adopted by Casey and Gabrielle Jones” He said out loud, looking at the name. He turned back to Donnie. “What does this have to do with me and April?” Don switched to an internet browser, pulling up what looked like a Facebook page.

“Because Hope Jones looks like THIS.” He said, pointing to a photo on the screen. Raph studied the picture, and he froze in shock. The little girl, no more than five or six looked at the camera, dark red hair framing a familiar face. The girl’s nose looked slightly flat, and then there was her eyes. Filled with life and laughter, brilliant GOLD eyes looked at the camera. The red turtle clung to the arms on the chair as he realized who the little girl looked like. Beside him, Donatello cleared his throat.

“Congratulations, Raphael. It looks like you have a daughter.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there you go. I’ll be working on a one-chapter sequel to this in-work title ‘Raising Hope’. It’ll be out sometime in the next week or so. I hope you liked my first attempt at a longer story.   
> I’m working on Pet on and off, and my next big project is a historical fiction with the working title of Gaijin. The basic synopsis is that in a world where animal-hybrids like the turtles live and work along humans, April is the daughter of an owner of a large ranch who died, and the owners of the ranch next door have her Shanghaied to take her land. After escaping from the ship on Okinawa, she ends as a side attraction for a Japanese circus as a red-hair Yuki-Onna. One day a runaway horse nearly runs over a rat who is out with his four turtle sons, but April saves him at the last minute. That’s about what I have planned out so far.   
> Thank you for reading this story, and I hope you check out “Raising Hope” and “Gaijin.” Please review to tell me what you thought!


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